Energy company to develop 57mw wind farm in Macroom

ULSTER BANK is leading a €100 million fundraising drive for a wind farm that the developers say will provide electricity for up to 30,000 homes.

Green Energy Company Ltd is developing a 57 megawatt (mw)wind farm at Clashavoon in the Boggeragh Mountains, close to Macroom, Co Cork.

The project has a licence from national electricity grid operator Eirgrid and is scheduled to begin generating electricity in 2012.

The cost of such projects runs at roughly €2 million a megawatt. Green Energy Company is seeking to raise €100 million to fund the development. Ulster Bank, which has a long track record in financing alternative energy developments, is leading a private equity fundraising round for the project.

Green Energy has already ordered 19 wind turbines from Danish manufacturer Vestas, which will have the capacity to generate 3mw of electricity each.

Its contract with Vestas covers supply, installation, commissioning and servicing of the turbines. Irish firm Wind Prospect will have responsibility for managing the project. Construction is due to begin next year. The wind farm should generate enough electricity to provide power for the equivalent of 30,000 homes when it is up and running.

Green Energy Company is based in Cork. The company's shareholders and directors are Michael and Veronica Murnane.

The company is one of a large number that have had projects in the pipeline for the last three years. The Irish national grid now supports wind farms with the capacity to generate more than 1,000mw of electricity.

Ultimately, the Commission for Energy Regulation intends licensing farms with the capacity to generate close to 6,000mw by 2020. It is about to embark on a new licensing round, known as gate three, which will open the system up to a further 3,900mw.

Two previous rounds gave permits to close to 2,000mw worth of projects.

The Republic is committed to generating one-third of its electricity needs from renewable sources by 2020. The State set the target to meet obligations to the EU and under international treaties.