Ireland's budding green energy industry has received its biggest boost, following the awarding of dozens of vital 15-year electricity contracts from the ESB.
The development will power 250,000 homes, cut 1.5 million tonnes of pollutants from Ireland and replace two million barrels a year of oil, the Minister of State for Public Enterprise, Mr Joe Jacob, said.
Most of the contracts have gone to companies such as Eirtricity that specialise in wind power, though some have gone to plants that will use up methane arising from landfills.
The guaranteed business from the ESB, subject to contract conditions being met, ensures the companies concerned can get bank finance, the Minister of State said.
Currently, wind, hydropower and biomass power generation, which costs between 4.6 cent per kilowatt and 6.41 cent per kilowatt, cannot compete with conventional fuels.
The number of qualifying companies has exceeded the Government's expectations under the Alternative Energy Requirement V Programme.
It had hoped to add 255 megawatts of extra capacity but instead received successful applications for 367Mw - compared to the 130Mw created by the four previous programmes.
However, a significant number of applications in the past have met with planning objections, and there is no guarantee that a number of the latest round will not fall in the same way.
