New Offaly wind farm drives Bord na Mona profits
BORD na Mona made an operating profit of €95.2m in the year up to March 29 last, according to its latest annual report.
“Significant progress has been achieved during the year in delivering renewable energy and recycling projects at scale in line with our strategic objectives, which include providing Ireland with sustainable energy and supporting the decarbonisation of the economy as envisaged by the State’s Climate Action Plan,” said Bord na Mona chair Geoffrey Meagher.
“During the past 12 months, Bord na Móna has made investments in the region of €100m in renewable energy and recycling infrastructure. The past year was a period in which the company also achieved a number of notable firsts. This was the first year in which the company completed the development of two large scale windfarm projects concurrently, representing an overall investment of €250m.
“Bord na Móna also entered a joint venture with Ocean Winds to identify and develop our first off shore wind opportunities around the coast of Ireland. In addition, we saw the commencement of our first solar project at Timahoe North, a joint venture, which is set to be one of the largest solar farms in the state. In the past 12 months Bord na Móna has restored 5,500 hectares of natural peatlands. This is part of a broader plan to rehabilitate up to 33,000 hectares of peatland over a five-year period. This is one of the largest ever peatland rehabilitation programmes in the world. It will secure, reduce and store millions of tonnes of carbon and help sequester millions more.
“Collectively these are important milestones on the road towards becoming the country’s leading renewable energy and climate solutions business, as set out in Bord na Móna’s 10-year plan, which will see investment of €2.7bn in sustainable energy infrastructure and generating assets.”
Bord na Mona chief executive Tom Donnellan pointed to the contribution of a wind farm in Offaly, Cloncreen. “The financial results... illustrate the continued growth during the year, particularly in our renewable energy business where Bord na Móna delivered an additional 175 megawatts of electricity from Cloncreen and Oweninny Wind Farms, both RESS 1 projects. This additional capacity is some of the lowest cost power to enter the Irish market this year and that price is locked in for the next 15 years. The outcome for the year was an operating profit of €95.2m, up from €78.9m in the previous 12 months and a profit after tax of €100.9m. This was driven by the accelerated shift into low-carbon activities and the strong performance of Bord na Móna’s renewable energy, recycling and waste businesses,” said Mr Donnellan.
“Bord na Móna has undergone a seismic transformation from our traditional peat-based business to a company with a climate solutions strategy entirely focused on renewable energy generation, recycling & responsible waste management, rehabilitating Irish peatlands, and developing additional low carbon enterprises.”