Financing secured for €150m Oweninny wind farm project

Project to be financed by a consortium of banks including AIB, BNP Paribas and EIB

Work on the ESB-Bord na Móna wind farm project near the Oweninny river. Photograph: Conor McKeown
Work on the ESB-Bord na Móna wind farm project near the Oweninny river. Photograph: Conor McKeown

Bord na Móna and ESB have secured financing for the €150 million Oweninny wind farm project in north county Mayo.

The project is to be financed with long-term debt from a consortium of banks including AIB, BNP Paribas and the European Investment Bank (EIB).

Located between Crossmolina and Bangor Erris, the development adjoins the State's first commercial wind farm – Bord na Móna's Bellacorrick wind farm – and Phase 1 of Oweninny (89MW) which was commissioned in 2019.

"The Oweninny joint venture investment is another tangible step towards a low carbon future, powered by clean electricity," said ESB chief executive Paddy Hayes.

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The ESB and Bord na Móna originally planned a 112-turbine farm on some 5,000 hectares of land compulsorily acquired by Bord na Móna more than 50 years ago. This was scaled down to 61 turbines of some 176 metres in overall height – almost twice the height of the former peat station cooling tower – which was approved by An Bord Pleanála in 2016.

Charlie Taylor

Charlie Taylor

Charlie Taylor is a former Irish Times business journalist