A new €150 million wind farm has been officially opened in Co Offaly.
Derrinlough Wind Farm consists of 21 turbines and has a capacity of 126MW.
The project comes as a corporate power purchase agreement was agreed with Bord na Móna (BnM) and Amazon Web Services who are paying for the equivalent amount of power it generates.
A corporate power purchase agreement is a long-term contract in which a company agrees to buy energy directly from a renewable source.
Amazon has committed to buying 800MW of renewable energy in Ireland, with today's purchase accounting for 126MW.
BnM’s Head of Renewable Energy John Reilly said that energy generated from the wind farm will go into the Irish system.
"All of the power output that comes from this wind farm, in terms of physical power, flows around the network.
"It’s available to domestic customers, it’s available to industrial customers – you don’t know where the power you are consuming at home comes from.
"What the corporate power purchase agreement does, in this case it is Amazon Web Services, they are paying for the equivalent power that would be generated.
"All of the power from this wind farm is contributing toward’s Ireland’s European and international renewable energy targets.
"Amazon are underpinning the investment in the site through the corporate power purchase agreement."
Mr Reilly said that BnM will be looking at more similar agreements in future.
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It comes as Ireland’s energy regulator, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU), requires that new data centres supply as much electricity to the grid as they use.
80% of that electricity must be also supplied via renewable sources like wind or solar farms, and that centres must develop their own back up energy supplies such ass battery storage.
These measures must be in place within six years of a new centre coming into operation.
Data centres accounted for over 20% of Ireland’s electricity usage in 2024, and it is estimated that they could account for a third of demand by 2030.
Speaking in Co Offaly, Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment Darragh O’Brien said that Derrinlough Wind Farm project will play a "vital role" in helping Ireland towards its climate targets.
The new wind farm sits on the Clongawny and Drinagh bogs, and as part of the project, €12m was allocated towards the local community.
That money will be spent "over the lifetime of the wind farm", and includes "near neighbour supports, providing contributions towards electricity bills, as well as scholarships for local students attending third-level education".
BnM also developed 24km of amenity access across the site, which is open to the public for walking and cycling.
