View of the Carn Hill wind farm
Irish renewable energy company Gaelectric has opened its stg£20m wind farm in Carn Hill, Co Antrim. The 13.8 megawatt (MW) wind farm is the first fully operational wind farm in Gaelectric’s Northern Ireland portfolio.
Comprised of six turbines, the Carn Hill wind farm will have the capacity to generate renewable power to meet the electricity demand of almost 8,000 homes each year, according to Gaelectric. The wind farm development is located about 12 km (eight miles) outside of Belfast City.
In March, Gaelectric raised €65m to deliver its portfolio of onshore wind-energy projects across the island of Ireland. By 2017, the company is aiming to install 164MW of generation capacity via 13 wind-farm projects. The company now has eight wind farms at various stages of development in Northern Ireland.
Last year, Gaelectric received planning approval for two wind farm projects in Co Derry. The wind farms will be located in Smulgedon, north-east of Dungiven, Co Derry, and at Monnaboy on Loughtermore Mountain.
Barry Gavin, Gaelectric’s finance director, said today that the opening of the Carn Hill wind farm will contribute significantly to the generation capacity of the company’s Northern Ireland portfolio.
“The official opening marks a major milestone for our business and further strengthens Gaelectric’s platform in the energy market. It will assist us in providing 13.8MW towards Northern Ireland’s renewable energy targets,” he said.
Through its energy storage division, Gaelectric is developing an energy storage project using compressed air energy storage (CAES) technology at a site near Larne in Co. Antrim.
Barry Gavin, finance director, Gaelectric; Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson; deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness; and Brendan McGrath, CEO, Gaelectric, at the Carn Hill wind farm’s sub station
