Norwegian renewable energy firm Statkraft has completed the acquisition of five fully permitted solar projects in Ireland from Lightsource bp.
The projects, which are located in Meath, Laois, Tipperary and Cork counties, have a combined capacity of 275MW.
The acquisition includes Blundelstown and Harristown solar farms in Meath, Ballymacadam solar farm in Tipperary, Loughteague solar farm in Laois, and Monatooreen solar farm in Cork.
Statkraft Ireland has funded the acquisitions using its own funds.
Lightsource bp Europe and international CEO Kareen Boutonnat said: “We have been active across the island of Ireland for many years, having developed and connected the first utility-scale solar projects in the North some years ago and have been progressing projects in the Republic since 2015.
“We are delighted to enter into this agreement with a company of the calibre and profile of Statkraft. We continue to be fully committed to developing Ireland’s utility-scale solar market and assessing future opportunities.”
Statkraft to use its own funds to construct Irish solar projects
After entering Irish renewable energy market, the company has made several other acquisitions and focused on diversifying its portfolio.
Statkraft Ireland is expected to make an investment decision on the construction on the Blundelstown project in the coming months.
In August, Statkraft secured contracts for over 330MW of renewable power in Ireland’s first competitive auction under the Government’s new Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS-1).
The contracts secured in the auction include two wind projects with a total capacity of 57MW and two solar projects with 276MW capacity.
For all its ventures in Ireland, the company intends to meets the necessary funding from its own resources.
Statkraft aims to increase its global portfolio of wind power assets to 6GW and solar power assets to 2GW by 2025.
In June, the company has commissioned the 183MW Moglice hydropower plant in Albania.
