Bord na Móna, a state-owned enterprise, and SSE Renewables, have revealed plans to make a joint investment of €1 billion over a decade, to construct onshore wind farms across the Midlands, capable of powering nearly half a million households. This significant collaboration forms part of one of the country’s largest-ever green electricity project deals.
Projecting that the wind farms could produce 800 mega watts of electricity, sufficient to service 480,550 homes, the companies are looking at three initial sites in Lemanaghan, Garryhinch, and Littleton, currently in pre-planning stages, which could collectively generate 250MW. Potential to produce an additional 550MW with further power plants is being considered.
Under the agreement, Bord na Móna will offer the sites for the various projects, whilst SSE Renewables undertakes the financial responsibility of acquiring planning permission and securing grid connections for each wind farm. Thereafter, the cost of construction will be shared equally by both firms.
Bord na Móna will also play a key role in interacting with local communities and overseeing community benefit funds established by onshore wind farm operators to assist local groups. Decisions on who will operate the proposed wind farms will be made during their development.
Starting out as a company exploiting peat from the national bogs, Bord na Móna has diversified into energy, waste management and other sectors, and owns significant land areas statewide, particularly in the Midlands.
Meanwhile, SSE Renewables, a division of London Stock Exchange-listed Scottish utility, SSE Plc., renowned in Ireland as the owner of electricity and gas provider, Airtricity, is investing €8 billion in green electricity projects in Ireland, Britain, Europe and Japan. The company is presently constructing the 101MW Yellow River wind farm in Co Offaly, having already secured a contract to supply electricity through the Government’s Renewable Energy Support Scheme.
SSE Renewables recently joined forces with Bord na Móna in a joint venture to construct wind farms on land owned by the state firm, following a partner-seeking competition managed by KPMG accountants. Bord na Móna’s CEO, Tom Donnellan, hails it an “important milestone” in the company’s pursuit to become a premier green energy source in the Republic.
Teaming up with SSE Renewables, we pledge over €1 billion of mutual investment into the onshore wind collaboration throughout the Midlands,” Donnellan said. The partnership would expedite Bord na Móna’s earlier plans to establish onshore wind energy facilities, initially set to conclude beyond 2030.
Donnellan emphasised the benefits of the enterprise would extend to “communities we have been part of for the past nine decades.” Stephen Wheeler, SSE Renewables’ managing director, stated that the company had already invested billions of euros into Ireland’s green energy.
“Our joined forces ensure the delivery of crucial new onshore wind projects throughout the Midlands that will bolster regional economies and employment,” Wheeler noted.
Bord na Móna’s collaboration received approval from Eamon Ryan, Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, who welcomed the partnership.
He noted that partnerships of this scale are essential for moving towards ending the dependency on fossil fuels and achieving energy autonomy for Ireland, he added.
As part of their plan by 2030, the government aims for renewable energy to generate 80% of the nation’s electricity consumed in the Republic.