SSE Renewables Community Fund is Powering Local Change in Limerick and Kerry

SSE Renewables is supporting community groups to power local change as they open the 2021 Community Funds for Tournafulla, Rathcahill, Dromada and Athea Wind Farms in Co. Limerick and Lenamore Wind Farm in Co. Kerry.

SSE Renewables has awarded over €2.2 million to local groups in the vicinity of its wind farms in North Kerry and West Limerick  since it commenced community funding in 2008.  

In 2020, 101 local groups benefited from the award of over €228,000 including schools, sports clubs and community organisations.
  
Applications to the 2021 SSE Renewables Community Fund are open from now and until 19 November for community-based projects within a 20km radius of the wind farms, with preference given to projects within five kilometers.  
 
SSE Renewables is the leading developer, owner and operator of onshore wind in Ireland, and is the power behind leading green energy power supplier, SSE Airtricity. It operates over 700MW of onshore wind farms in locations across the country, including Ireland’s largest wind farm, the 174MW Galway Wind Park in Connemara, County Galway. SSE has invested €3.8 billion in the Irish economy since entering the market in 2008. 
 
Through its annual Community Fund programme, SSE Renewables has awarded almost €9m so far to over 3, 200 community projects in the communities closest to its wind farms. This funding has helped support local groups, sports organisations and schools among others to develop their facilities with energy efficiency and sustainability upgrades, as well as social and environmental projects that enable community development.  
 
This year marks a change in the name of the funding programme. Previously promoted under the SSE Airtricity brand, the programme will now be known as the SSE Renewables Community Fund. The change is designed to better link annual funding award payments from SSE’s wind farms in Ireland to SSE Renewables, which owns and operates each of the company’s wind farm sites.  
 
Speaking at the launch of the Fund, Anne Reynolds, SSE Renewables Community Liaison Officer, said: “We know from our work in the areas in which we operate that local community groups are at the heart of all the good work being done to support people and improve their lives. They are also at the forefront of bringing innovation to their community to make them more sustainable. That is why the SSE Renewables Community Fund has been so successful as it supports, energizes and helps invigorate the communities around our wind farms.

“We are delighted to have invested more than €2.2 million since 2008 in the communities around Tournafulla, Rathcahill, Dromada, Athea and Lenamore Wind Farms.  We look forward to welcoming new applications this year and building new partnerships with the 2021 SSE Renewables Community Fund.” 
 
Tournafulla, Rathcahill, Dromada and Athea Wind Farms in West Limerick have a combined capacity of over 100MW and are capable of powering over 50,000 homes in the region. Lenamore Wind Farm in North Kerry entered full commercial operation in 2018 and consists of nine turbines which generate enough green energy to power over 10,000 homes.

The closing date for the SSE Renewables Community Fund for Tournafulla, Rathcahill, Dromada, Athea and Lenamore Wind Farms, is 5 pm on 19 November, 2021. For more information on how to apply, visit  www.sserenewables.com/communityfund or contact the Community Fund Manager via email at [email protected]