IRISH CORPORATES are having the wind put up them by rocketing energy costs but help could be at hand in the form of onsite turbines. Wind Energy Direct (WED), an Irish company formed in 2006, is offering to install and operate full-sized wind turbines, on site for large guzzlers of electricity.
Founded by former IT executive Dominic Costello, WED is offering savings of up to 15 per cent for commercial energy users.
Costello claims to have secured €17 million in funding from private investors, although he declined to reveal any identities. He plans to leverage this through borrowings to give it about €80 million in funding.
The turbines cost up to €2 million each and WED takes the hit on capital costs, not the customer. Corporates are required to sign a 10-year supply contract.
Costello was similarly coy in relation to his first customer, which has been secured in Co Cork, saying only that it was a large private company.
Planning permission has been secured, the turbine is being manufactured in Germany and Costello expects it to be installed and working by the end of March 2009.
The turbines will typically provide about 2 megawatts (MW) of power and Costello said they are suitable for large industrial users in areas that are not sensitive from a planning perspective and where background noise is already a feature.
He expects to have about 80MW of wind power built out by 2013 and has pencilled in revenues of €11.7 million for that amount of power.
It is targeting a 16-20 per cent profit margin.
Feasibility studies at about a dozen sites around the country are under way. “We’re talking to a large number of significant players in the market,” Costello said.
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