GE Energy Financial Services buys wind projects in Ireland

GE Energy Financial Services has acquired two under development wind farms totaling 51MW from Element Power in Ireland.

To be equipped with GE’s 2.85MW turbines with 103m rotors, the wind farms will enable Ireland to meet its renewable energy goals that include power production for thousands of homes, and reduce electricity costs for Irish consumers.

Construction of the farms is being carried out by Element Power, which will also provide operational management services after completion of the projects.

The first 17MW Acres wind farm, construction of which will be completed in the first quarter of 2015, is located at Ballyshannon in Donegal, while the second 34MW Barranafaddock wind farm is located near Ballyduff in Waterford.

Construction of Barranafaddock wind farm would be completed in the second quarter of 2015.

The operational life of the wind farms is expected to be 25 years.

Moriarty Civil Engineering and Kirby Group have secured contracts for civil and electrical works.

Once completed, the wind farms would produce enough electricity to power over 33,300 homes in Ireland while avoiding the emission of up to 75,000 tons of greenhouse gases.

Element Power president and COO said, "The Acres and Barranafaddock wind farms illustrate the complementary fit between Element Power’s development, construction and operations expertise and GE’s capital and wind turbine technology."