Building materials group Mannok will invest up to €16 million on a solar power plant as it bids to cut both energy costs and greenhouse gas emissionsThe Cavan-based manufacturer has been working on various initiatives to tackle energy use and carbon dioxide output in recent years.Cavan County Council planners recently gave Mannok permission to build a solar farm capable of generating 18 megawatts (MW) of electricity at its base in Ballyconnell. Specialist developer Astatine will build the plant while Mannok will repay the cost through a power-purchase agreement with the company over the project’s life.Power-purchase deals allow businesses to buy electricity direct from power plants and are increasingly used by renewable firms to speed up access to funding.Guarantees that a company will buy their electricity make it easier for renewable developers to raise cash to build projects.They also allow clients such as Mannok to develop renewable energy without spending on these assets upfront.Estimates of the cost of building solar plants run to between €700,000 and €900,000 per megawatt.Costs have fallen in recent years after Chinese manufacturers, responsible for most of the world’s solar panels, produced a surplus.This is Mannok’s third solar project following a 6MW plant on the roof of its manufacturing plant in Ballyconnell and an 8MW facility on lands near its base.A legal dispute over land has stalled work on the 8MW solar farm. The issue is due back in court in the coming weeks.Mannok won planning permission for that facility last year and began work on it shortly afterwards.Had the legal row not intervened, work would have been almost completed by now. Astatine is also the partner on that project.The rooftop project is the biggest such solar scheme in the country, covering an area equal to three GAA pitches.SSE Airtricity and Activ8 are the partners on that plant. Documents show that Cavan County Council’s decision to grant the 18MW project was appealed to An Coimisiún Pleanála, which ruled the challenge invalid.The three solar projects will have a total capacity of 32MW and meet up to 25 per cent of Mannok’s energy needs in the Republic.Mannok makes cement, pre-cast concrete, insulation and other products at its bases in Cavan and Fermanagh. It was formerly part of the Sean Quinn-controlled Quinn Group.Manufacturing cement and concrete demands large quantities of energy, posing a challenge to producers seeking to manage costs and greenhouse gas emissions.