ORIT claims that its five-site solar complex is the largest in Ireland. Image: Octopus Energy.

Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust (ORIT), part of UK utility Octopus Energy, has completed the acquisition of a newly constructed 42MW solar farm near Dublin in Ireland.

Along with four nearby operational solar farms acquired by ORIT earlier this year, the company’s solar complex totals 241MW. ORIT claims that its five-site solar complex is the largest in Ireland and will meet around 2.5% of the Irish national solar target of 8GW by 2030.

The sites were acquired once fully operational from Statkraft Ireland Limited, which, under ORIT’s oversight, developed and constructed the solar plants. ORIT paid about €38 million (£31 million) for the 42MW site, and the total acquisition cost for all five was £165 million.

This was in part financed using the £87 million 20-year debt facility provided by Allied Irish Banks and La Banque Postale. Following the acquisition, ORIT says its total capacity of operational renewable energy assets is 802MW.

Phil Austin, ORIT chairman, said: “We are delighted to have completed on the fifth solar site following its energisation, underscoring our continued commitment to increasing green electricity generation through renewable infrastructure projects.

“This solar complex will play a crucial role in providing sustainable electricity to Ireland to help it meet its clean energy goals and represents a step forward in our mission to deliver long-term value for our shareholders and positive environmental impact.”

ORIT previously announced that the site benefits from a 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Microsoft. The PPA ensures income for ORIT and is part of Microsoft’s efforts to support the decarbonisation of Ireland’s electricity grid.

In November 2022, Microsoft announced 900MW of renewable energy CPPAs in Ireland, of which more than 216MW of onshore wind and solar capacity have reached commercial operation, with an additional 250MW coming online by the end of this year.

The technology giant has a vested interest in the state of Ireland’s grid, as the nation is a global hotspot for data centre developments. As reported on our sister site, Current±, figures from the Central Statistics Office for Ireland showed that in 2023 data centres took a 21% of total metered electricity consumption, more than the total amount for urban dwellings (18%) and for rural dwellings (10%). 

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