Nordex supplying first N117 wind turbines to Ireland

The Nordex Group has landed a further important success in Ireland. Its new customer, the internationally active project developer Element Power, has decided to order 15 Nordex N117/2400 turbines for its “Monaincha” wind farm.

In addition, Element Power and the owner of the wind farm, private-equity investor BlackRock have signed a ten-year service contract.

“This not only marks the beginning of what will hopefully be successful relations with Element Power but also constitutes a further sales success for this wind turbine in Europe,” says Nordex Board member Lars Bondo Krogsgaard.

The N117/2400 is currently one of the most efficient turbines for lower-wind speed locations. With its large rotor diameter of 117 meters, it achieves an above-average capacity factor of over 35 percent. This also applies to the “Monaincha” wind farm in County Tipperary with the power generated sufficient to cover the requirements of 20,000 Irish homes.

Work on installing the wind farm in the flatlands close to the town of Roscrea is to commence in April 2013. Krogsgaard: “Including the projects currently under development, Nordex will soon have a capacity of 427 MW in Ireland. This is an impressive figure, which confirms the wisdom of our decision to establish a subsidiary in Ireland in 2010.”

Mike O’Neill, President & COO of Element Power commented, “We are delighted to cement our relationship with Nordex by bringing them into the Monaincha project. Our decision to work with Nordex, based on our confidence in their technology for this project and their ability to perform, has clearly been vindicated through the rigorous debt and equity financing process that we have successfully completed.”