Bord Gáis announces green energy purchases as €1bn investment plans continue
The company is increasing its solar and wind energy portfolio after agreeing power purchase agreements (PPAs) with renewable developers - part of the company's €1bn infrastructure investment over the next five years. The projects announced on Wednesday total over 629MW of installed renewable capacity spanning solar and onshore wind technologies.
The new solar agreements are with Highfield Energy, BNRG, ILOS Energy and Power Capital Renewable Energy while Bord Gáis Energy has signed onshore wind offtake agreements with Encavis and Tullynamoyle 5.
"This is a pivotal time for Bord Gáis Energy as we repurpose to become a leading green energy business. We have an ambition to be a net zero company by 2040 and we're working with our 730,000 residential, commercial and agricultural customers to help them transition affordably to a lower carbon future and reach net zero by 2050," said Bord Gáis director of trading John Dalton.
"We've partnered with trusted renewable energy developers and the newly signed agreements will amount to almost 1TWh of clean electricity annually, enough to power approximately 250,000 residential homes. Many projects are already live or expected to energise in 2026 with some longer-term agreements active in 2028."
Once operational, Bord Gáis Energy will be the largest off taker of solar powered energy from the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS), the Government scheme which provides firms with guarantees to purchase electricity generated for 15 years.
Bord Gáis Energy currently operates a 445MW combined cycle gas turbine in Whitegate, Co Cork which can power up to 400,000 homes. The company is developing two 100MW 'peaker' plants in Dublin and Athlone with a third peaker planned for Galway to facilitate the growth of renewable energy and ensure security of supply. Peaker plants usually supply power during times of high demand.
Bord Gáis Energy's solar and wind portfolio will move from 380.70MW at the start of this year to 979.3MW in October 2028. In February 2025, Bord Gáis announced it would invest €1bn between 2024 and 2029 in Ireland's energy infrastructure and to support the green transition.
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