Amazon invests in Cork windfarm

INTERNET giant Amazon has bought a wind farm in Cork, their second investment in wind energy in Ireland in the last few months.

It is expected that the Cork project will provide 23.2 megawatts (MW) of renewable capacity, with an expected generation of 68,000-megawatt-hours (MWh) of clean energy per year.

The Cork windfarm is to supply energy to the company’s offices which provide cloud-based services to businesses all over the world.

Amazon also bought a wind energy project in Meenbog, County Donegal in April, which is being developed by Invis Energy.

The online retailer said the two farms are expected to begin producing clean energy in 2020.

This is the firm’s 66th renewable energy project, including 51 solar rooftops.

Amazon also bought a solar farm in the US state of Virginia.

Environment Minister Richard Bruton said: "This project is another example of [Amazon Web Services] commitment to renewable projects in Ireland, adding clean energy to the grid, and supporting Ireland's climate commitments.

"Construction will begin on this project this year and will start contributing to Ireland's renewable energy capacity by 2020."

The Irish Wind Energy Association welcomed the announcement with CEO David Connolly saying: “This is fantastic news and a terrific vote of confidence in our industry which will also help Ireland achieve our 2020 renewable energy targets.

"Wind is the cheapest renewable energy on the market and increasingly competitive with fossil fuels. In the coming years we hope policymakers and industry will work together to ensure we can offer the best possible electricity prices to deliver more deals like this.”