Renewable energy portfolio generates multimillion euro windfall for Cork businessman

Cork renewables entrepreneur Michael Murnane shared in a €14.5 million dividend payout last year from a company associated with his Invis Energy portfolio of 10 wind farms in the west and south of the State.

The Macroom businessman also pulled in €1.5 million in management fees from the wind farms, while a separate company in which he has a 50 per cent stake also received €1.5 million in fees.

Mr Murnane, who with his partners sold a majority stake in the wind farms five years ago for €300 million, now owns about 11 per cent of the portfolio, entitling him to about €1.6 million of the dividend payout. Along with his share of the management fees, the wind farms could have generated close to €4 million in income last year for Mr Murnane and his family’s company, Fixarra.

The portfolio of assets that were developed by Mr Murnane, and in which he remains a minority investor, operates about 11 per cent of Ireland’s total wind energy capacity, according to Invis’s website. They include the large-scale Knockduff wind facility in Cork and the Knocknagoum facility in Kerry, which has 42 turbines. Along with other windfarms up the western seaboard in Clare, Galway and Mayo, the portfolio’s total power generation capacity is about 223 megawatts.

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The dividend payout is revealed in the consolidated accounts for Evalair, the entity that owns the assets. It generated €50 million in electricity sales in the year to the end of last September, while it made an operating profit of more than €14 million and made a net loss of €3.3 million.

Despite this, it paid a dividend to its shareholders of €14.5 million, leaving it with a €35 million deficit on the consolidated balance sheet. The directors of the business, who include Mr Murnane, highlighted the deficit in a note to the accounts but confirmed: “there is certainty around the continued trade” of the company and that it has adequate resources.

Following the €300 million buy-in in 2017, about 60 per cent of the portfolio is owned by a Japanese consortium, Shamrock Wind, which comprises Mirai Power, Kansai Electric and a company connected to Mitsubishi. The rest is owned by Mr Murnane’s Fixarra and a Luxembourg entity connected to UK private equity house, HG Capital.

Mr Murnane’s interests in the venture are ultimately controlled from the Isle of Man via a Manx entity, Freetal, whose directors include the Cork businessman and members of his family.