SWS Group, part of the co-op of the same name, is developing a €150 million wind farm in Hungary, the biggest project of its kind in that country.
The west Cork-based business is one of a number of Irish businesses that is exploiting opportunities in eastern Europe that include everything from property to airports.
According to Jim Galvin, a senior manager with SWS, the company sought opportunities for wind energy projects in the states that joined the EU last year because it became frustrated with the slow pace of development in the Irish sector.
The site for the wind farm, in the Veszprem region south-west of Budapest, was chosen from about 20 options around the country that computer mapping suggested could be suitable.
The company has applied for planning permission to erect 38 turbines, generating power for up to 60,000 homes. At about €150 million, it is the biggest Irish investment in Hungary.
"We looked at several countries - Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland - before deciding on Hungary," said Mr Galvin. "It is a stable country, politically and economically, and we felt comfortable with the way people here do business, the whole psyche.
"They are very open and eager to do business with the Irish, and their work ethic is superb. This is our first foreign project - our flagship, if you like - and from our two years of experience we are very happy working here.
"In the short and mid term, Hungary is our focus," Mr Galvin said of SWS's plans for central Europe. "And we are helping indigenous industry in a very rural part of the country: about €30 million of the project will be spent on building roads, civil infrastructure at the site and so on."
Once planning permission is secured, SWS hopes to borrow funding for the project from Hungarian banks and secure a power purchase agreement - which guarantees sales to the electricity grid - with one of the major domestic or foreign energy firms that operate here.
Cape Clear Aviation, a consortium of Irish and Hungarian investors, is planning to develop and operate Balaton airport at Lake Balaton, a popular resort with Hungarians and Germans.
S.P. O'Mahony, commercial director of Cape Clear, said that in common with the rest of Europe, Hungarians see regional airports as vital to economic growth.
The first stage of the Balaton development is a €10 million upgrade of the lighting and other safety and landing equipment around the 2.5km-long airstrip, the construction of a new terminal building and building a secure perimeter fence around the airport.
Some €1.5 million of that initial investment will come from the Hungarian government which, Mr O'Mahony says, has encouraged the project as part of its drive to bring competition into the airline and airport business, and make Lake Balaton a more attractive and accessible proposition for European holidaymakers.
Irish property investors are active in Budapest. Quinlan Private owns 80 per cent of the city's Gresham Palace Hotel. However, Mr Galvin cautioned that property has "one price for Hungarians, one price for foreigners, and a top whack price for the Irish".
