Amy O’Shaughnessy, marketing acquisitions and sponsorship manager, Energia

Amy O’Shaughnessy, marketing acquisitions and sponsorship manager at Energia, provides an overview of the company’s investment in renewable sources of energy and how it supports the communities it operates in

“Energia Renewables is playing a significant role in helping to reduce our dependence on imports and fossil fuels in general as a nation”

Energia currently operates 20 wind farms across the island of Ireland with a total installed capacity of 306MW. With four additional new wind farms in development, all of which are expected to be generating in 2018, our total installed capacity is due to reach 381MW.

Our Renewables business started generating in 2013. In that year, 237,165 MWh of electricity was produced. Fast forward to 2017, and in the months from January to September, our wind farms had already generated 507,836 MWh. This is enough electricity to power 120,913 Irish homes for the full year (based on average household consumption of 4,200 kWh per year, according to the Commission for Regulation of Utilities in Ireland).

Ireland has only small proven deposits of fossil fuels, making us dependent on imports. About 88% of our energy came from imported sources in 2015, up from 85% in 2014 and compared to an EU average of 50%. Energia Renewables is playing a significant role in helping to reduce our dependence on imports and fossil fuels in general as a nation.

Environmentally aware

Apart from the obvious contribution to our renewable energy targets, Energia Renewables has been instrumental in improving the sustainability of the environments in which our wind farms are built.

In the early stages of planning each project, the team agrees a habitat management plan with the Planning Service. This will all take place prior to any construction works commencing on the wind farms.

The sites usually tend to be located either on remote hill farms or mountainous areas. Energia makes a commitment to minimise the impact of the works to the habitat and general environment during the construction phase. In the longer term there are commitments, monitoring and annual reports to the Planning Service throughout the operational lifetime of the wind farm – this is typically 20 to 25 years.

In all operations, Energia Renewables takes every opportunity to reuse and recycle materials. On our construction sites we recycle plastic, timber, oils and electrical cables. Any natural materials excavated on site are always reused. This would include topsoil, peat, clay and stone, all of which are utilised in the building of the wind farm infrastructure. We ensure that no material is wasted or leaves the project site.

Major investment

In 2015 Energia Renewables started a two-year construction programme of the €145m wind farm at Meenadreen in Co Donegal. Output capacity was increased by 95MW through the installation of 38 Nordex N90 turbines. The size and scale of the wind farm is really only comprehendible by being on site. To give some perspective, the turbines themselves stand 115m high and weigh in at over 300 tonnes and the site incorporates some 95km of cable and more than 30km of road.

Sustainability is at the core of what we do and at Energia we’re only getting started. We have ambitious plans for diversifying our Renewables portfolio in the coming years and propose to branch out beyond wind into biomass, hydrogen and other sources of green energy.

We are continually striving to engage and educate our customers in homes and businesses across the country, empowering them to reach their own sustainability goals and build towards a greener future for themselves and their families.