Bord Gáis has awarded the contract to supply, build and commission a 42.5 MW, 17-turbine wind project in Co Tipperary to Hamburg-headquartered Nordex for an undisclosed sum.
The company, which has a subsidiary in Swords, will begin installing the 17 N90/2500 turbines for the Gurracummer wind project from August 2012.
Under the agreement, Nordex will build the foundations, supply the turbines and commission them, and provide premium service for 15 years. The annual energy yield of Garracummer amounts to more than 150 gigawatt hours.
Bord Gáis already has two Nordex wind farms in its portfolio. Nordex built the 22.5MW Knockawarriga and the 32.5MW Kilgarvan Extension wind farms for SWS Energy, which was acquired by Bord Gáis in 2009.
Nordex installed its first turbine in Ireland in 2002 and set up a subsidiary here in 2010. In all, more than 60 Nordex turbines are now in operation in Ireland with a capacity of more than 150 megawatts.
Bord Gais Energy and Nordex signed a framework agreement in October 2011, which allows the latter to tender for 200MW of Bord Gais wind farm projects between now and 2014. “With Garracummer, we hope to be able to intensify our partnership into the future,” said Lars Bondo Krogsgaard, chief customer officer of Nordex SE.