SSE Renewables expects to have a 29-turbine wind energy farm in Offaly up and running by 2022 after acquiring the 'shovel-ready' development from Green Wind Energy Wexford.

The shareholders in Green Wind Energy Wexford Ltd are Smart Wave Ltd, Don Curtin, Niamh Curtin, Alison Curtin, Donal Curtin, Margaret O’Rourke, Paraic O’Rourke, Alan O’Rourke and Emma Glennon. The company booked a loss of €2.9m in 2018 and had negative net worth of €3.2m at year-end. The principals are involved in another wind farm project in Cork.

The Yellow River project in Rhode planning approval in 2014 and pre-construction work on the site has begun. The wind project’s installed capacity will be over 100MW, enough to power 50,000 homes annually and offset at least two million tonnes of carbon dioxide over its expected 25-year life span.

SSE Renewables expects to start construction next year, employing 80 construction staff.

Director of capital projects Paul Cooley said: “The acquisition, and the pursuit of future acquisitions, is in line with SSE Renewables’ objective of continually exploring opportunities to grow our onshore wind development pipeline in Ireland and Great Britain. Yellow River Wind Farm will contribute towards our ambition of developing and building enough renewable energy capacity to treble annual output of renewable electricity to 30TWh by 2030.”

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The company says it is the largest renewable energy developer, operator and owner in Ireland’s all-island electricity market. The company owns and operates 708MW of onshore wind capacity on the island, with a pipeline of around 600MW of new onshore wind farms under development.

It is also developing phase two of the offshore Arklow Bank Wind Park, the 800MW Braymore Point off the north-east coast, and the Celtic Sea array to the south-east.