ESB and Bord na Mona have secured €160m in funding to build the 89MW Oweninny wind farm in Mayo in Ireland.
The project will be financed with long-term debt from a consortium of banks including the European Investment Bank (EIB), which is providing 50% of the finance, MUFG Bank, BNP Paribas and AIB.
It will be located between Crossmolina and Bangor Erris on a site formerly used for peat harvesting by Bord na Mona.
ESB chief executive Pat O’Doherty said: “Oweninny wind farm will add to ESB’s existing portfolio of 16 wind farms on the island of Ireland and will support our strategy to significantly reduce the carbon intensity of the electricity we generate.”
Bord na Mona managing director Tom Donnellan said: “While peat production ceased in Oweninny some years ago, this joint venture with ESB demonstrates how we in Bord na Mona can best use our land bank of over 200,000 acres in order to support national policy to decarbonise.”
EIB vice president Andrew McDowell said: “The European Investment Bank’s €80m financing for the new Oweninny wind farm – 50% of total funding – represents our largest ever investment in renewable energy generation in Ireland and the largest financing in Ireland to date under the Investment Plan for Europe.”
Image: reNEWS
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