DUBLIN, Ireland: US pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly has said it will build a $1bn medicine manufacturing site in Limerick.

Lily currently employs some 2,700 people at Kinsale and Little Island, Co Cork.

The new site in Limerick is expected to employ 1,200 during construction and an additional 300 full-time staff at the plant.

"The Limerick manufacturing site will be a fully integrated digital site with the latest machine automation, manufacturing execution, and data technologies designed to ensure product and data quality," read a statement released by Lilly.

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

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

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

Lilly noted, in its statement, that it has operated in Ireland since 1978 Lilly, building close links "between the life sciences industry, communities, and universities with strong science, technology, engineering, and math programs in Limerick and across the country."

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

Also, the new Lilly facility in Limerick includes plans for a "significant solar energy investment."

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 roughly 2m litres of water per annum".