SSE Airtricity presents more than €106,000 to community groups around its Meentycat Wind Farm

SSE Airtricity, Ireland’s largest renewable energy generator, has presented over €106,000 to community groups close to its Meentycat Wind Farm in Co. Donegal.

In September, nearly 1,000 people, representing over 40 separate local community groups and bodies, took part in the annual SSE Airtricity Meentycat Community Fund Sponsored Walk, raising more than €67,000.

On Monday 30 November, SSE Airtricity handed out an additional €53,000 to the participating groups, and on Tuesday 1 December, the company awarded a further €53,000 to 11 local groups from the company’s annual Community Fund.

Through its Community Fund, SSE Airtricity makes annual contributions to community groups in the vicinity of its wind farms. The company has been donating to local projects near its Meentycat Wind Farm since 2007 and has handed out over €610,000 so far between the Community Fund and Sponsored Walk.

The majority of this year’s Community Fund recipients are putting the funding towards greater energy efficiency, which SSE Airtricity strongly supports. Projects being supported range from fitting energy efficient lighting at Gleneely National School to installing a rainwater harvesting system at Letterkenny Rugby Club

Anne Reynolds, SSE Airtricity Community Development Officer, said:

“With nearly 1,000 walkers raising over €67,000 for their own causes, this year’s Meentycat Community Fund Sponsored Walk was the largest to date. We were delighted to hand out an additional €53,000 to support the groups and boost their fundraising efforts. We also presented a further €53,000 from our Meentycat Community Fund to 11 worthy and forward-thinking community projects. It’s great to see that the majority of the money is going towards improvements in energy efficiency, which is something we’re always promoting at SSE Airtricity.”

SSE Airtricity’s Meentycat Wind Farm is the largest wind farm in Ireland. Meentycat and the adjoining Culliagh Wind Farm near Lifford generate over 100MW of renewable energy combined.