RBS was by far the biggest lender to renewable energy projects in the UK last year, lending more than double the amount of its nearest competitor, according to independent research. The bank says it expects the sector to grow further in the next few years.

Figures from Infrastructure Journal show RBS loaned more than $366 million to UK renewable projects last year. The journal also calculates that across the sector, lending increased by nearly 200% on the previous year. In 2010 deals worth $464 million were completed, which increased to $1.37 billion in 2011 (figures from Infrastructure Journal).

Jamieson Thrower, senior director in RBS’s structured finance division says: “RBS is playing its part in financing the transition to a greener economy. We have built up an impressive level of expertise in this area, which shows in the growing number of transactions we completed last year. With EU members committed to sourcing 20% of their energy from renewables by 2020, the sector is likely to remain busy over the next few years.”

One driver behind the increase in activity in the sector is the surge in biomass developments after the UK reviewed its Renewables Obligation banding in October 2011. This was encouraging for onshore wind and proposed greater subsidies for enhanced biomass generators while leaving incentives for other forms of biomass power mostly unchanged, easing uncertainty across the industry for continued future development. Biomass plants generate power from organic materials such as woodchips, municipal waste and straw.

Energia will be the biggest purchaser of the renewable energy produced by Ireland’s growing number of wind farms in 2011, according to new figures from the Irish Wind Energy Association. Responding to the massive increase in demand from Irish businesses for ‘green’ power, Energia is set to grow its renewable energy portfolio by over 268 megawatts (MWs) this year.

The vast majority of this, 243 MW, will come from 26 new Irish windfarms that will become operational during 2011. This equates to 68% of the total new electricity generated by Ireland’s wind farms this year, making Energia by far the largest purchaser of new Irish wind farm power.

Peter Baillie, managing director of Energia Renewables.

Last year 115 MWs of new generating capacity from Irish wind farms was connected to the national grid, over 40%of which is in Energia’s portfolio. In 2011 this figure is set to rise to around 400MWs.

Peter Baillie, managing director of Energia Renewables, comments: “In response to the growing number of Irish businesses asking for green power, Energia’s renewable power portofolio is set to grow by 268 megawatts (MW) this year. 25MWs will come from our Energia wind farms and 243 MWs will come from new wind farms all over Ireland. This makes us by far the biggest purchaser of new wind power capacity in Ireland.”

He continues: “We have signed a large number of power purchase agreements (PPAs) with new wind farm developments all over Ireland, including locations in counties Carlow, Cork, Donegal, Kerry, Leitrim, Limerick, Mayo, Roscommon, Tipperary and Wexford.”

In addition to these PPAs, Energia already runs a large number of its own wind farms throughout Ireland in locations such as Donegal, Roscommon and Sligo. The company is also in the final stages of developing new wind farms in Caherdowney, County Cork, Meenadreen. County Donegal, and Hollyford, County Tipperary.

“We also recently raised a Eur72 million in financing for our latest group of renewable projects, bringing our total wind farm financing to Eur115m in the last two years,” he point out. “At the moment we are very focused on expanding our renewables business.”