DANONE has been granted permission for a solar panel installation at its plant in Macroom.

The French dairy and food multinational firm was given the go ahead for an installation with a capacity of 6MW on 11 hectares.

Separately, the company is waiting for a decision on its planning application to build an advanced medical nutrition facility in Macroom.

If approved the tailored medical nutrition for cancer related malnutrition, frailty, stroke and Alzheimers will be the country’s first development of its kind.

It is proposed for Inchinashingane on the site adjacent to the existing infant nutrition plant in Macroom.

It is intended it will start operation in late 2028 and when fully ramped up in mid-2031, it will employ a further 230 people bringing total employment at the site to 460 people.

Producing disease specific and long term condition nutrition is a new departure for the French company known for well-known brands like Aptamil and Cow&Gate.

The facility was initially constructed in 1979, and the site was acquired by Danone Infant Nutrition Macroom Ltd in 1995 and converted to its current use.

The application site, which comprises 18.44 hectares, accommodates the large-scale dairy processing facility that treats and processes milk concentrate to make bulk powdered infant formula and other dairy products that are shipped to other sites for further processing and/or packaging.

Plans include the construction of a two-storey, 21,759sqm production building, a new single storey utilities service block, a research and development building and car park extensions.