Renewable firm plans €2bn US spend

RENEWABLE energy firm Gaelectric is planning to invest more than €2 billion in America over the next six years.

The company has secured further transmission capacity in the US north-west, giving it an opportunity to double existing power capacity in the region.

Negotiations are also under way with Trans Canada for what is understood to be substantial capacity on the Chinook line which would complete Gaelectric’s transmission capacity objectives in the north-west region.

On the completion of these agreements Gaelectric will have a major stake across the transmission projects planned in Montana to export wind energy out-of-state, it said.

Gaelectric boss Brendan McGrath said: “The key to large scale development of Montana wind is the ability economically to compete in out-of-state markets. The key to economic wind is economic transmission.

“The identification of these routes and the booking of interconnection and service agreements essentially breaks the Montana Wind blockage and gives an opportunity for early wind farm development or ‘Steel in the Air’ as they say in Montana.”

Gaelectric is a group of companies, each active in the different fields of renewable energy. The company recently received planning approval at Carn Hill, Co Antrim, for a 14 megawatt windfarm capable of generating enough energy to power 8,200 homes annually. It has a number of projects in planning in the North, totalling 130MW.