Energy firm plans wind farm project

International energy firm Element Power is planning to improve Britain’s renewable energy provisions by building a number of wind farms in the Irish midlands — a move which will create thousands of jobs here and result in Ireland exporting over €1.2 billion worth of wind-generated electricity to Britain annually.

Element’s “Greenwire” project — which is still in the planning stages — will see 40 wind farms built across counties Meath, Westmeath, Kildare, Laois and Offaly. When operational, they will provide up to 3,000 megawatts of power, which will be linked — by underground and sub-sea cables — to Britain’s national grid and go towards generating enough power for two million homes there.

The company will invest €8bn in constructing the new wind farms, building of which should commence by 2015 before becoming operational three years later. This will create around 10,000 construction and development jobs, while another 3,000 long-term engineering and maintenance jobs are also being factored in — 2,000 of which will be based in Ireland.