Wind News

Wednesday 03 June 2009

The Slieve Divena wind farm is using Nordex N80 turbines

Scottish and Southern Energy has agreed to buy a 20MW wind farm project in Northern Ireland from developers RES Group for an undisclosed sum.

The Slieve Divena Phase II project is an extension to an existing wind farm near Garvaghy in County Tyrone, which RES Group sold to SSE-subsidiary Airtricity back in 2007.

The project seeks to add to the existing 12 turbines at the wind farm with a further eight machines, ultimately offering a combined phase one and two capacity of 50MW.

Announcing the deal today, SSE chief executive Ian Marchant said: "I am very pleased that we have been able to add the Slieve Divena Phase II project to our growing wind energy portfolio.

"It is another step towards our target of 4,000MW of operating renewable energy capacity in the UK and Ireland by 2013 and another illustration of the opportunities flowing from our acquisition last year of Airtricity," Mr Marchant added.

The first phase of the Slieve Divena wind farm, which is located between Ballygawley and Sixmilecross, became operational in March this year using 2.5MW-rated N80 wind turbines supplied by German manufacturers Nordex.

The completed wind farm extension would generate sufficient power for the needs of about 11,000 homes, said its developers.

Developers

RES Group, which is part of the Sir Robert McAlpine Group, secured planning permission for the Slieve Divena second phase two years ago, although a date for the start of construction is still to be decided.

The company has its head office in Hertfordshire, but also regional offices including one in Larne, County Antrim. It is currently developing and building a number of wind farm projects in Northern Ireland.

It has already developed wind farms at Tappaghan, Bin Mountain, Bessy Bell and Slieve Kirk, as well as the existing Slieve Divena facility.

Airtricity

Commenting on the Slieve Divena deal, RES Northern Europe chief executive Douglas Wright said: "Our team in Northern Ireland has once again developed a valuable project that will make an important contribution to renewable energy targets and national energy security. It continues our success in the Northern Ireland market, which has enjoyed strong growth and where wind will continue to play a major role."

Airtricity, Scottish and Southern Energy's wind development subsidiary, said the deal with RES would strengthen the relationship between the two companies.

Airtricity has its Northern Ireland office in Omagh, County Tyrone, where it has more than 360MW of wind energy projects in the development pipeline. The company already operates the 19.5MW Tappaghan wind farm and 9MW Bin Mountain projects in the province.

Stephen Wheeler, general manager for Airtricity in Ireland, said: "The Slieve Divena extension will not only continue and deepen the relationship between Airtricity and RES but will also help us to partner with communities in Northern Ireland to secure our energy independence, end our dependency on foreign fossil-fuel imports, and help Northern Ireland meets its binding EU 2020 targets on renewable energy generation."