Orsted has begun commercial operation at a wind farm in Northern Ireland, financed through a corporate power purchase agreement (CPPA) with Amazon.
Located in County Antrim, the 16MW Amazon Wind Farm Northern Ireland – Ballykeel will generate renewable energy from seven turbines, bringing Ørsted’s total operational capacity to 378MW across the island of Ireland.
Amazon Wind Farm Northern Ireland – Ballykeel is the first renewable energy project enabled by a corporate power purchase agreement to become operational in Northern Ireland.
In addition to the Amazon Wind Farm Northern Ireland – Ballykeel, Amazon has also signed corporate power purchase agreements for Orsted’s offshore wind farm Borkum Riffgrund 3 in Germany, the onshore wind farm Kennoxhead in Scotland, and the onshore Amazon Wind Farm in Texas.
Amazon is on a path to powering its operations globally with 100% renewable energy by 2025, and last year reached 90%.
TJ Hunter, Senior Director, Development and Operations of Orsted UK & Ireland, said: “We’re very pleased to work with Amazon and successfully deliver more renewable energy in Northern Ireland.
“Amazon Wind Farm Northern Ireland – Ballykeel is the first renewable energy project to be delivered under a corporate power purchase agreement in Northern Ireland, which demonstrates the important role that companies can play in adding clean energy to the grid.”
Lindsay McQuade, Director of Energy, EMEA at Amazon, said: “Wind energy plays a critical role in decarbonising both Amazon’s operations and the Irish grid, and we’re proud to invest in renewable energy projects like the Amazon Wind Farm Northern Ireland – Ballykeel.
“Today at Amazon, we power 90% of our operations with renewable energy, and projects like Ballykeel and more than 400 other wind and solar projects around the world will help us on our path to reach 100% by 2025.”
As part of the development Orsted has established a £16,000 fund for the local community which will be replenished every year.