Ørsted takes final investment decision on Ballykeel Onshore Wind Farm under first-ever utility-scale CPPA in Northern Ireland

Ørsted’s Board of Directors has taken final investment decision (FID) on Ballykeel Onshore Wind Farm in Northern Ireland. The 16 MW wind farm will be located in the Antrim region in the north-eastern part of the country.

Ballykeel was acquired by Ørsted in June 2021, and the FID follows the long-term fixed-price corporate power purchase agreement (CPPA) signed with Amazon announced in December last year, under which Amazon will offtake all power produced by the wind farm. The CPPA is the first of its kind to be signed in Northern Ireland. Kieran White, Vice President and Managing Director of Ireland & UK Onshore in Ørsted, says: “I’m delighted that we’re continuing to bring renewable projects in Northern Ireland to FID, and we look forward to completing the Ballykeel project in close cooperation with Amazon. This project is the first project in Northern Ireland to reach FID under a corporate PPA, which shows that it’s possible to add green power to the Northern Ireland grid in the absence of government subsidies for renewable projects.”

The wind farm is expected to be operational in 2023 and will bring Ørsted Onshore’s capacity in Ireland to 372 MW in operation and under construction. Ørsted Onshore entered the European market in April 2021 with the acquisition of Ireland and UK onshore wind business Brookfield Renewable Ireland and has announced that it is continuously evaluating opportunities to enter other European markets.

The information provided in this announcement does not change Ørsted’s previous financial guidance for the financial year of 2021 or the announced expected investment level for 2021.