Statkraft has a reached a final investment decision to construct the Cloghan and Taghart wind farms in Ireland and sell them to Greencoat Renewables.
The Norwegian developer is retaining responsibility for construction, commencing in early 2021, and the long-term operation and management of the projects.
The 37.8MW Cloghan is located in County Offaly and 25.2MW Taghart is in County Cavan.
The ownership of the assets will be transferred to Greencoat Renewables when they become operational in 2022, with the total value amounting to €123 million, Statkraft said.
Statkraft secured 15-year fixed price contracts for the two wind projects and two solar projects in Ireland’s first competitive auction under the government’s new Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS-1) earlier this year.
Partner at investment manager Greencoat Capital Paul O’Donnell said: “Securing our first assets under RESS is an important milestone for us as the RESS auctions will continue to support the growth of the Irish renewables market.
“We expect this combination of contracted revenues and forward-purchases to become commonplace in both Ireland and Europe over the next few years, and we believe Greencoat Renewables is well positioned given our scale and the strength of our relationships.”
Commenting on the investment decision, Statkraft Ireland Managing Director Kevin O’Donovan said: “Statkraft is playing a leading role in the global transition to a low carbon future and I am really pleased to see the financial partnership with Greencoat Renewables contributing to delivering Ireland’s carbon reduction targets”.
“We believe that Ireland will be one of the leading growth markets for wind and solar power, given the country’s significant renewable energy resources.”