THE ten-turbine 25 megawatt wind farm near Drumquin in Co Tyrone has come under new management.
Castlecraig wind farm, owned by sustainable infrastructure investors and asset managers NTR, is now being operated by renewable energy business RES, following the awarding of an asset management services contract.
It is the first time the two businesses have worked together during operations and follows the successful construction of the wind farm by NTR supported by RES as construction manager.
Castlecraig - which can generate enough clean power to meet the needs of over 18,500 homes - was constructed by a number of local firms.
They include Adman from Omagh which undertook the civil construction works, B.McCaffrey & Sons Ltd and Colton Quarries who provided stone, Tracey Concrete from Enniskillen, Lisburn-based Mar-Train Heavy Haulage, and staff at Barton Industrial Services and Omexom inn Belfast.
Darren Cook, head of asset management for RES, said: “Taking on the asset management contract at Castlecraig builds on our existing relationship with NTR and is a mark of confidence in the world-leading service we offer our clients.
“RES is looking forward to working closely with NTR to ensure the smooth running of this site and, utilising our extensive technical expertise, we will take every opportunity to maximise the output of the wind farm for our client.”
Joe Dalton, director of asset management for NTR said: “We optimise long term returns from our assets on behalf of investors in our funds, and have successfully completed the construction of Castlecraig wind farm.
"We are delighted to partner with RES for the first time in the operations phase of a project and look forward to continued high performance from this project over the coming years.”
RES, which manages 414 individual turbines across 37 wind farms in the UK and Ireland, will provide asset management, high voltage operations, financial management, control centre operations from its facility in Glasgow.
Mr Cook added: “We are now managing nearly 700 megawatts of wind energy. With a further 55mw of battery storage sites and 106mw of solar across eight sites under our charge, we’re seeing a real maturation of renewable energy as a clean way to power our homes, businesses and transport networks.”
