SSE Airtricity presents over £83,000 in inaugural community fund for Tievenameenta Wind Farm

SSE Airtricity, Northern Ireland’s leading renewable energy provider, has presented over £83,000 to community groups near its Tievenameenta Wind Farm in Killeter, Co. Tyrone.

The presentation took place in the Silver Birch Hotel in Omagh, with 21 local groups receiving funding, including schools, sports clubs and community associations.

This is the first annual presentation of the Community Fund for Tievenameenta Wind Farm, which became fully operational in February 2017. Through its Community Fund programme, SSE Airtricity makes annual contributions to community groups located close to its wind farms. The company has contributed over £1.5 million to more than 500 groups in Northern Ireland since 2008.

Killeter Youth Club will be putting the funding towards improving their outdoor lighting. Lee Vermer, Secretary of Killeter Youth Club, said: “Our youth club has been running for 21 years, and offers the only youth provision in the area at weekends. Outdoor accessibility, and space for physical activity, is vital for our youth club, and the current lighting is insufficient, particularly in the winter months. This is compounded by the lack of any street lighting nearby. The funding from SSE Airtricity will allow us to install energy-efficient lighting for the drive up to the club, as well as upgrading our current lighting to meet all regulations.”

Ederney St. Josephs Primary School will use the contribution from SSE Airtricity to fit solar panels at the school. Liam Monaghan, the school’s Principal, said: “Through this solar project we hope to boost our on-going Eco-School work by tackling our tired, inefficient, energy infrastructure and replacing it with a modern, energy-efficient technology. Doing so will not only reduce our energy bills significantly, but will play a vital role as a teaching tool, in educating pupils, parents, staff and the wider community, about the contribution of energy conservation in caring the environment.”

Anne Reynolds, SSE Airtricity Community Development Officer, commented: “At SSE Airtricity, we believe in making a positive difference to the communities in which we live and work. We’re delighted to be presenting over £83,000 to 21 forward-thinking and important community projects in the first year of our Tievenameenta Community Fund. It’s great to see so much of the money going towards improvements in energy efficiency, which we always support as a great way to secure long-term benefit for the community. We’re looking forward to seeing more and more local projects come to life in the years ahead!”

SSE Airtricity’s Tievenameenta Wind Farm generates 34.5MW of clean, green energy, enough to power approximately 30,000 homes.