Tributes have been paid to the prominent and successful renewable energy entrepreneur, Dr Eddie O'Connor, who has died aged 76.
In a statement on its website, Supernode, the company Mr O’Connor founded and remained chairman of until his death, confirmed he had passed away after a brief illness.
A chemical engineer, Mr O’Connor initially worked for the ESB, before being appointed chief executive of Bord Na Mona in 1987.
He led a radical overhaul of the business, building Ireland’s first commercial wind farm in Bellacorick in 1992 and returning the company to profitability.
In 1996 he left the semi-state company and the following year he went on to found renewable power firm, Airtricity, which he led until 2008 when the company was sold to SSE for €1.8bn.
During his time at Airtricity, it built Ireland’s first offshore windfarm.
Soon afterwards he set up wind and solar energy business, Mainstream Renewable Power, which developed into a leading global renewable energy company with projects spanning across five continents.
In 2021 a 75% stake in it was sold to Norwegian company Aker Horizons at a valuation of €1bn, realising over €500m for Mr O’Connor personally.
The deal also saw Aker Horizons buy a 50% stake in Supernode.
Founded by Mr O’Connor in 2018, its technology enables connecting offshore wind production efficiently with markets over longer distances.
"Eddie was a rare and amazing person with great intelligence, vision, vitality, courage and resolve," said Supernode chief executive, John Fitzgerald.
"He is known as one of Ireland’s greatest entrepreneurs, leading the development of the global wind industry as founder of Irish companies Airtricity, Mainstream Renewable Power and SuperNode,"
"But calling Eddie an entrepreneur does not quite suffice, he was a swashbuckling pioneer and an irrepressible visionary, who inspired others to believe that change could happen and gave them confidence that they could make it happen."
In 2009, Mr O’Connor received the first ever leadership award at the annual Euromoney and Ernst & Young Global Renewable Energy Awards.
He was also awarded the Poul la Cour award for his outstanding contribution to wind energy at the European Wind Energy Association’s annual conference in 2014.
In May 2016, Mr O’Connor was appointed as the Global Wind Energy Council’s new Global Ambassador.
He was also named world energy policy leader by Scientific American magazine in 2003.
Minister for the Environment, Climate, Communications and Transport, Eamon Ryan, said he was deeply saddened at the businessman’s death.
"He was, without doubt, a true pioneer when it came to the development of wind energy, both in Ireland and across the globe,." Mr Ryan said.
"From his time as chief executive of Bord na Móna to his establishment of Airtricity and the subsequent creation of Mainstream Renewable Power and SuperNode, he was always several years ahead of everyone else in his thinking."
"He was one of the first, not just to understand Ireland’s enormous potential for renewable energy, but to act upon it."
Wind Energy Ireland said Mr O’Connor was one of the creators of Ireland’s wind energy industry and a visionary who never stopped working for a cleaner, more prosperous, energy future.
"Eddie O’Connor revolutionised how we produce and use energy in this country," said Noel Cunniffe, CEO of Wind Energy Ireland.
"Ireland’s wind energy industry was built on the foundations he and others laid in the 1990s and their vision of a cleaner, more prosperous, energy future for all of us."
Mr O’Connor is survived by wife Hildegard and children Robert and Lesley.
- reporting Brian Finn and Will Goodbody
