August 27, 2010

Finavera Renewables to co-develop Ireland wind project

VANCOUVER

Finavera Renewables Inc. has signed a series of agreements for the co-development of the 105-megawatt Cloosh Valley wind project, which has the potential to be a significant source of green electricity for Ireland.

Among the agreements is the sale of a majority interest in Finavera’s Gate 3 grid connection to Scottish and Southern Energy for 8.4 million euros, or about C$11.4 million.

The Vancouver-based company said it has also signed a co-development agreement with SSE and Finavera’s current partner Coillte, a state-owned landowner, to jointly develop the Cloosh Valley project.

The project’s capacity of 105MW would exceed all current onshore wind farms in Ireland and would provide enough electricity for approximately 68,000 homes, Finavera said.

“We are delighted to be partnering with Scottish and Southern Energy and Coillte on the development of the Cloosh Valley Wind project,’’ said Finavera chief executive Jason Bak.

“SSE brings significant development, construction, and operating experience to this project. The strength of the development team now behind the Cloosh Valley project illustrates the value of this project, which has some of the best available wind resources in Europe. We now have the right team and a clear path to construction and full operation of the Cloosh Valley project.’’

SSE owns about 11,300MW of electricity generation capacity, with about 2.4 MW from renewable capacity the rest from gas, oil and coal-fired plants.

Coillte is a state owned commercial forestry and renewables company that has been a development partner on the project with Finavera since 2009.

Finavera will retain a 10 per cent equity interest in the project and will participate in all project development functions and activities, the company said.

Canadian Press

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