The Republic of Ireland is committed to generating 8GW of onshore wind by 2030 which will further consolidate the country’s status as the largest onshore generator of electricity in the world. Expanding the onshore provision will considerably cut CO2 emissions, but more importantly reduce Ireland’s dependency on imported fossil fuels and drive down the wholesale price of electricity.
Swiss-based JC MONTFORT is a leading player in the field of energy and the environment, managing several projects across eight countries and generating a total of 2150 MW. With Ireland looking to expand onshore wind generation, JC MONTFORT saw an opportunity to expand their business and approached GDG in mid-2020 to seek its help and technical expertise.
Specifically, JC MONTFORT saw an opportunity to work collaboratively with GDG on the development of a number of onshore wind projects, which together would generate approximately 100 MW of green, sustainable electricity.
GDG’s role included project management, due diligence, feasibility studies and identifying and selecting sites, across Ireland, which could be used to reach the 100 MW target. GDG is also assisting JC MONTFORT to highlight potential target sites for future solar projects within Ireland, as well as supporting its efforts to enter the Scottish market.
The collaborative project was not without its challenges: as it was JC MONTFORT’s first cross-border expansion in the Irish market, the GDG team had to identify wind project sites from scratch and scale them up to 100 MW. This required the company’s team of experienced engineers and geologists to deliver consistently to ensure that JC MONTFORT successfully entered the Irish market. In fact, GDG’s expertise and dedication allowed its team to undertake some of the projects to an advanced stage of development.
Although the project is ongoing, JC MONTFORT is extremely pleased with the work that GDG has undertaken to date, highlighted by its request for further support in its development of solar and offshore wind in the Irish market and onshore wind in the Scottish market.
