Ireland - Company seeks to buy land for wind turbines

Farmers and landowners in Ireland who are willing to lease or sell their land for the erection of wind turbines are being sought by a Cork company. Energy Services is launching a nationwide campaign in a bid to erect wind turbines across the country. Farmers with ten acres could lease their property, earning €250,000 for a 25-year lease. Fund managers, business owners and energy producers are just some of the investors providing money for the project. Energy Services has already worked for high-profile clients such Dell, Pfizer and Musgraves, and has constructed a wind turbine on the Old Head of Kinsale in west Co Cork.

The company’s technical director, Tom Lynch, an energy consultant who has worked in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, believes Ireland has reached a crisis point in energy reliance. ‘‘We are seeing 27 per cent hikes in the cost of electricity and 34 per cent in gas,” said Lynch. ‘‘Should there be another oil crisis, this country has only three days’ capacity of oil. A high proportion of our gas comes from North Africa, which is not a very stable region. Ireland has, however, the best conditions in Europe for wind energy, so we need to exploit this.”

Lynch and the company’s financial director, Stephen Flint, are offering free consultations to any landowners interested in the project. They are willing to pay above market value for suitable land and would ideally want a 30-acre site. The company’s aim over the next three years is to produce 100 megawatts (MW) of energy, at a cost of €120 million, which would provide enough energy to power 16,000 homes. A ten-acre site could accommodate one wind turbine producing 2.5MW of energy; a 30-acre site up to four turbines producing 10MWs. Lynch said the company and its investors were also interested in the production of hydro power.