Aer Soléir, the green energy developer cofounded and led by former Mainstream Renewable Power chief executive Andy Kinsella, has signed a large deal to sell power from three onshore wind farms it is developing in Greece.
Construction of the wind farm projects has already started, with power generation expected to begin in 2026, Aer Soléir said in a joint statement with project partner Amazon.
It is understood the power purchase agreement (PPA) covers projects with a total of 360 megawatts (MW) of capacity and spans 15 years. The contract may amount to more than €1 billion of revenues over its lifetime, according to industry sources.
Mr Kinsella, who quit Mainstream in the summer of 2020 before its €900 million sale the following year to Norway’s Aker Horizons, cofounded Aer Soleir in 2021 with Manus O’Donnell. Mr O’Donnell was a former finance executive with Mainstream, who had gone on to serve as chief investment officer with renewable energy company NTR for seven years.
The great Guinness shortage has lessons for Diageo
Ireland has won the corporation tax game for now, but will that last?
Corkman leading €11bn development of Battersea Power Station in London: ‘We’ve created a place to live, work and play’
Elf doors, carriage rides and boat cruises: Christmas in Ireland’s five-star hotels
Aer Soléir is backed by Texas-based investment firm Quantum Energy Partner’s 547 Energy clean power platform. The Irish company has a 2.2 gigawatt (GW) development pipeline across Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece, according to its website.
The total capacity of the European pipeline equates to about 40 per cent of the Republic’s current peak electricity supply.
Aer Soleir is currently involved in more than €500 million of wind projects across Greece with project finance backing from the National Bank of Greece and EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility. It is working with a local development partner, called Enteka.
The new PPA aligns with Amazon’s commitment to achieve net-zero carbon across operations by 2040, and also to support Greece’s plan to generate more than 80 per cent of the electricity it uses from renewable sources by 2030.
“Since its inception in 2021, Aer Soleir has been committed to advancing Greece’s energy transition,” said Mr Kinsella in a joint statement with Amazon and the Greek government “We are proud that our projects are significantly contributing to the Greek government’s renewable energy goals and are delighted to be partnering with Amazon.”
Lindsay McQuade, Amazon Web Service’s director of energy for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said: “With more than 180 wind and solar projects enabled across more than a dozen European countries, we are committed to driving the carbon-free energy transition forward both for our operations and local communities.”
- Sign up for the Business Today newsletter and get the latest business news and commentary in your inbox every weekday morning
- Opt in to Business push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Our Inside Business podcast is published weekly – Find the latest episode here
