Ireland's Airtricity to Buy US$550 Million of GE Turbines
Date: 30-Jun-06
Country: IRELAND
Airtricity, which has announced two fundraising deals so far this month to pay for its expansion beyond Ireland and Britain into North America, said it was the Dublin-based company's biggest ever wind turbine deal.
"Bearing in mind the intense competition that exists in acquiring turbines at a time of world shortage, we are delighted to have secured capacity to deliver a further 500 MW (megawatts) of renewable energy for our 2008 build programme," Airtricity Chief Executive Eddie O'Connor said in a statement.
Airtricity, which both generates and supplies energy in Ireland and the United Kingdom, is currently developing wind farms in Texas, New York, Pennsylvania, Colorado, and New Mexico and has plans to build sites in California and Canada.
President George W. Bush said earlier this year that the United States should reduce its reliance on foreign oil by developing alternative energy sources.
"In his last 'State of the Nation' Address, President Bush announced the USA's commitment to delivering 20 percent of its electricity from wind energy," O'Connor said.
"This 500MW deal with GE Energy is testimony to Airtricity's commitment to begin the process of making electricity generation in the USA into a native sourced activity."
Privately owned Airtricity said earlier this month that it had raised 250 million euros from investors to develop its international operations in a deal that valued the company at 800 million euros (US$1 billion).