Iberdrola's move into the Irish retail market comes as the company announced it plans to invest over €100million in new renewable energy and storage projects within the Irish Single Energy Market by 2025.
Iberdrola's UK business, ScottishPower, has a long-standing presence on the island of Ireland, successfully operating six onshore windfarms totalling just under 60 megawatts (MW).
It is currently seeking to repower three of those existing windfarms to ensure the delivery of clean green power for generations to come.
Constructed over 22 years ago, Barnesmore Windfarm in Co Donegal has 25 turbines which have been successfully generating up to 15MW of renewable power since its opening in the late 1990s. In the first repowering project in Ireland it is proposed that the existing turbines on site will be repowered or replaced with fewer, larger, more efficient turbines, quadrupling generating capacity up to 60MW.
Likewise in Northern Ireland, the Rigged Hill and Corkey windfarms could be repowered to increase capacity from 5MW to 28MW and 20MW respectively.
In 2018, nearly a third of total electricity demand in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland was met by wind energy and Iberdrola's further investment will be vital for meeting bold decarbonisation targets including the Irish Government's 70% target for renewable electricity by 2030. Iberdrola and ScottishPower are now seeking out partnership and co-development opportunities across Ireland.
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ScottishPower recently became the first of the UK's integrated utilities to generate 100% renewable electricity, having sold its remaining thermal generation plants at the beginning of 2019.
Colin McNeill, CEO Retail of ScottishPower and Iberdrola Ireland, said: "We provide energy for 100 million people worldwide and we look forward to welcoming many new customers with the launch of Iberdrola Ireland. We're excited to offer these competitive 100% green electricity tariffs, which will help our customers to reduce their carbon emissions. Based in Dublin, we are looking to expand quickly in the market through competitive prices and leading edge digital services.
"When it comes to energy generation, we are the world's largest wind power producer, and our global expertise in renewable energy means we are well-placed to support the development of Ireland's low carbon economy. Ireland is already ahead of the curve when it comes to renewables, and we want to play our part in the clean energy future."
In addition to the Republic of Ireland, Iberdrola has also recently launched new retail propositions in Portugal, Italy and France. In Portugal, Iberdrola has become the second largest electricity supplier, having doubled its customer base in just 12 months, and now exceeds 350,000. The company aims to surpass 500,000 contracts by the end of 2020.
In Italy, Iberdrola has gained more than 100,000 electricity and gas customers during the first 12 months, with the objective of exceeding half a million customers by 2020. The company also aims to have one million retail contracts in France by the end of 2020. In the UK, ScottishPower currently serves 5 million retail customers.
McNeill added: "Iberdrola values the insight our customers provide to help our business keep moving in the right direction. While some energy companies are moving away from having a customer business, we are keen to grow ours. Each market offers different challenges and opportunities, but we can take the best innovations in each country to provide even smarter and cleaner energy products for all of our customers."
