Meenadreen windfarm's double success at Wind Energy Ireland’s industry awards

Energia’s Meenadreen windfarm won both the ‘Wind Energy in the Community Award’ and the ‘Overall Winner Award’ for the Meenadreen windfarm community benefit fund  at the Wind Energy Ireland’s annual industry awards held on Friday, March 11. The Irish Wind Industry Awards, organised by Wind Energy Ireland (WEI) recognise and celebrate companies and individuals demonstrating originality, innovation and excellence in Ireland’s wind energy sector.

Energia’s Meenadreen windfarm won both the ‘Wind Energy in the Community Award’ and the ‘Overall Winner Award’ for the Meenadreen windfarm community benefit fund which is administered in partnership with Community Fund Ireland. Meenadreen is wind farm located in South Donegal, which has 38 turbines producing 95 megawatts (MW) of electricity. It can power up to 50,000 homes using wind energy, reducing Ireland’s carbon dioxide emissions by up to 100,000 tonnes each year.

Speaking about winning the two awards for Meenadreen windfarm, Peter Baillie, MD Energia Renewables said, “Winning these awards is great recognition for our team, that the very important work we do in the communities at our windfarms is delivering positive impact for local communities. We have invested over €2 million in communities through 7 community benefit funds across the island of Ireland, leading the way in ensuring a zero carbon Ireland that invests in communities and builds a stronger, energy independent Ireland.”

Speaking about the Meenadreen windfarm community benefit fund, Rosy Billingham, Community Engagement Manager with Energia Group said, “We believe local communities deserve to benefit from the construction and operation of wind farms and we have worked with the Community Foundation for Ireland to ensure our funding has a positive and lasting impact. The Meenadreen windfarm fund has been tailored to meet the needs of the local community and now provides multi-annual grants up to €60,000 over two years for community capital projects.  It also offers a local student bursary to cover tuition costs up to a maximum of €3,000 a year.”

Energia Group won three awards on the night. Cian Brogan an engineer on Energia’s Renewables team won the ‘Young Person of the Year Award’.

Speaking about his win Cian said, “I am fortunate to be working with a great team in Energia Group and have gained so much experience since joining the company in 2019 following my graduation from Dublin City University with a degree in Mechatronic engineering. I’ve enjoyed working on process efficiency improvement projects contributing to the overall team performance. Winning this award for my work in the area of renewable energy is fantastic as I continue in my career working on projects that will benefit our environment.”

Caption:

Picture Caption: Brendan McGarr, Head of Construction, Energia Renewables; Dearbhla O’Brien, Director of TNEI Ireland; Rosy Billingham, Community Engagement Manager; Energia Renewables and Peter Baillie MD, Energia Renewables celebrating Energia’s success at the annual Wind Energy Ireland Awards.