Eilly Lilly plans $1 billion medicine plant in Limerick

DUBLIN, Ireland : US pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly plans to build a $1 billion medicine manufacturing facility in Limerick.

Lily currently employs about 2,700 people in Kinsale and Little Island, Co Cork.

The plant's staff is expected to employ 1,200 during construction and an additional 300 full-time staff at the plant.

Simon Coveney, Employment, Trade, and Enterprise Minister, attended a groundbreaking event for the Lilly facility in Limerick this week.

Lilly officials said the Limerick site will use 35 percent less energy, 40 percent less water and produce 15 percent less waste compared to other pharmaceutical plants.

The company said the new facility will expand Lilly's manufacturing network for biologic active ingredients.

Lilly opened what it described as the single largest solar farm in the Republic of Ireland, which partially powers its Kinsale facility.

Plans for a significant solar energy investment are also included in the new Lilly facility in Limerick. The Limerick site design also includes an array of cisterns that will harvest rainwater for re-use within the site, resulting in a saving of approximately 2 m litres of water per annum.