Lift-off for Airtricity €1.6bn wind project
Irish-based wind energy company Airtricity, which was recently bought by Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE), is poised to begin construction of a £1.3bn (€1.6bn) wind farm off the coast of Suffolk in England.
The so-called Greater Gabbard wind farm will be the world's largest offshore wind farm when completed in 2010. It received planning permission in February.
SSE has agreed to buy out the 50pc interest of its joint venture partner, Flour International, in the 504 megawatt (MW) project for £40m in cash. However, it intends sell the same stake later this year to raise more equity for the project.
Airtricity has about 300MW of wind farms in operation in Ireland and has another 100MW in construction. One megawatt can power 5,000 homes for an hour.
"We plan to double our capacity in Ireland within the next three to five years, which would cost in the region of €500m and €700m," said Paul Dowling, chief executive of Airtricity, who took over from the company's founder Eddie O'Connor in February.
SSE's target for Airtricity to have around 4,000MW of operating wind farm capacity in the UK and Ireland by 2013 -- including a 50pc share of the 504MW development 25km off the Suffolk coast.
The Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Eamon Ryan, unveiled a new tarrif system for offshore windfarms last February, guaranteeing a price of €140 per MW hour for wind generated power off Ireland's coasts.
- Joe Brennan
