O'Connor's new energy venture seeks €200m

AIRTRICITY FOUNDER Eddie O'Connor's new venture is set to seek €200 million in funding from private backers and institutions in the autumn.

Mr O'Connor left wind energy group Airtricity earlier this year after its sale for €1 billion to Scottish and Southern Energy, which earned him an estimated €50 million. Yesterday he launched Mainstream Renewable Power and announced that the company will begin raising €200 million in September to fund ongoing and new projects. Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Mr O'Connor said the company will look for backing from high net worth individuals, but added that a number of institutions were also interested in getting involved.

Mr O'Connor revealed that he has put €30 million of his own money into Mainstream. "That's most of my net worth," he told the conference. Overall, the company has seed capital of more than €40 million. Mr O'Connor's colleagues in the venture, who include former Airtricity executives Torben Andersen and Fintan Whelan, have contributed the balance.

Mainstream is likely to seek sums of €500,000 to €1 million from private backers. Finance director Fintan Whelan said yesterday the company was seeking a "good spread of investors".

He added that Irish investors' experience of renewable energy to date had been positive. "That's the feedback we're getting from the stockbroking community," he said.Mainstream has appointed stockbroking firm, Dolmen as its adviser. The Irish Times has learned it is also in discussions with Goodbody. Mainstream has recruited Brendan Halligan, chairman of State body Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) and Sir Roy Gardner, former head of British utility Centrica, as non-executive directors.

The company will fund individual projects through a mixture of debt and equity. It will borrow about 70 per cent of the project cost, making up the balance from its own cash reserves. Mainstream Renewable Power has been operating for the last four months and has lined up projects in a number of countries, including Ireland, Germany, Britain, the US and Australia. In Chile, it has agreed to develop wind farms with the capacity to produce 260 mega watts of electricity. At current rates, this will require an investment of up to €500 million.

Mr O'Connor said the company's initial focus will be on wind generation. It has also invested €1 million in Dutch company 2-B, which designs offshore wind turbines.