Green energy producer SSE Renewables has donated €1.1m to 412 community projects in 2020 to 2021, according to the company’s Community Investment Review.

The money went to local groups, sports organisations and schools, among others, and is the largest-ever yearly investment made by SSE Renewables into local communities from its wind farms.

SSE Renewables, which is the producer behind sister company SSE Airtricity, provides voluntary funding every year to community groups in the vicinity of its wind farms in support of energy efficiency, safety and sustainability projects as well as social and environmental projects.

This past year, the company also provided Covid-19 relief supports to communities during the pandemic. More than €350,000 was distributed within six months to help local Covid-19 response efforts and was awarded to community groups its wind farms in Cork, Cavan, Donegal, Wexford, Monaghan, Sligo, Limerick, Kerry, Tipperary and Galway.

Managing director Jim Smith said: “The past year has demonstrated to us all how important our local communities are. We are thankful that communities have trusted us to provide financial support during this difficult year. We are committed to using the green recovery and the growth of our renewables infrastructure to help even more communities in the year to come.”

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SSER had committed to providing 10% of its total awards to to support rural areas during the Covid emergency, and as the scale of the crisis became clear invested more than €2.3m into pandemic-related projects, helping groups to mitigate the impact.

Among the community projects receiving funding are those near the Galway Wind Park, including €47,000 for the Killannin Pitch Committee to facilitate capital works at the club grounds, and 14 groups near the Richfield Wind Farm in Wexford received €14,000, while schools, sports clubs and community centres around the Knockastanna Wind Farm received €10,000.

SSE Renewables is continuing to develop Arklow Bank Wind Park, Phase 2, the first of the next generation of its offshore wind energy sites, and has also commenced construction of the onshore Lenalea Wind Farm in Co Donegal, a co-development with partner Coillte Renewable Energy.

Photo: Galway Park Fund , Killannin (Pic: Sean Lydon)