These facilities will be among the first phase of utility scale solar production in Ireland and will add to Bord Gáis Energy's increasing sources of renewable supply being made available to their customers.
Under a long-term arrangement, Bord Gáis Energy will manage and offtake the electricity produced from these facilities and include them as part of their supply portfolio to their customers.
Obton powered by Shannon Energy is a joint venture between Obton, a Danish solar photovoltaic (PV) business, and its Irish partner Shannon Energy. The Danish-Irish partnership recently confirmed that it plans to double its investment in the Irish solar energy market, as it plans to expand their portfolio and solar energy products here to reach a total capacity of 1 Gigawatt (GW) by 2026. This will see the total value of its portfolio and projects here reach an investment of €750m in the sector.
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The 11 solar farms which Bord Gáis Energy will manage for Obton powered by Shannon Energy are the 11 projects they submitted in the first round of the Irish Government's Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS). They were subsequently awarded the contracts for all 11.
Managing Director of Bord Gáis Energy, Dave Kirwan said: "At Bord Gáis Energy we intend to take the lead in helping Irish energy customers transition affordably to a lower carbon future. Earlier this month we launched Ireland's first dual fuel green energy plans for our customers, and we are now delighted to be partnering with Obton on the first phase of their solar projects in Ireland. This will not only increase the amount of renewable energy supply we can offer our customers over the next 15 years but will also directly support the decarbonisation of the electricity system making Ireland greener."
The eleven solar farms will have the capacity to generate up to 118MW of power and are located in eight counties throughout Ireland, and will include sites in Wexford, Waterford, Cork, Longford, Galway, Offaly, Meath and Tipperary. The production from these facilities will be sufficient to power approximately 20,000 homes. This will be in addition to Bord Gáis Energy's current renewable supply portfolio which is in excess of 220MW (wind production), enough to power to circa. 73,000 homes.
Bord Gáis Energy will be the only energy provider partnering with Obton powered by Shannon Energy on this project, which is the renewable energy firm's first construction of Irish solar farms.
Noel Shannon, CEO of Shannon Energy, said: "The team at Obton powered by Shannon Energy are delighted to confirm this new partnership with Bord Gáis Energy. These projects, as well as creating jobs and a clean source of energy, also injects huge confidence into Ireland's green credentials. Our recent announcement that we are doubling our investment here demonstrates our commitment to the Irish solar energy sector. We are excited about the future of solar energy in Ireland and we have hugely ambitious plans for this sector."
