Neoen has signed power purchase agreement (PPA) with Bord Gais Energy on three solar farms in Ireland that will provide electricity to the national grid in 2022.
Under an agreement running until 31 December 2037, Bord Gais Energy will be the sole off taker of the electricity produced from facilities in Hortland, County Kildare, Hilltown in County Meath and Millvale in County Wicklow.
The three solar farms are already under construction and will have a capacity of 58MW.
The facilities will be amongst the earliest utility scale solar plants in Ireland and were successful in the first auction of the Irish Government’s Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS 1) in 2020.
Neoen is one of the world’s leading and fastest growing independent producers of exclusively renewable energy with over 4.8GW of solar, wind and storage capacity in operation or under construction worldwide.
Managing director of Bord Gais Energy Dave Kirwan said: “At Bord Gais Energy, we fully support the government’s target of reaching 80% renewable energy by 2030.
“We’re committed to growing our renewable energy portfolio and on helping our customers transition affordably to a lower carbon future.
“This long-term partnership with Neoen will increase the amount of renewable energy supply we can offer our customers.”
Bord Gais Energy’s current renewable supply portfolio is in excess of 230MW (wind production), which powers circa 73,000 homes.
Earlier this year, Bord Gais Energy announced a partnership with Obton, powered by Shannon Energy, to manage 118MW of power from 11 solar farms, powering approximately 20,000 homes across Ireland.