ONE of Ireland’s leading energy companies has opened an office in Scotland to support the development of renewable energy projects.

ESB officially opened its Glasgow office yesterday, and has earmarked 800MW of clean electricity generation in Scotland, primarily onshore wind.

Working in partnership with windfarm developers, including through development partnerships with Coriolis and REG Holdings, ESB has eleven windfarms in development, aiming to bring its total investment in onshore wind across Great Britain to over one gigawatt by 2030.

Energy Minister Paul Wheelhouse, attending the opening ceremony, said: “I warmly welcome ESB’s commitment to Scotland, and the company’s ambitious investment plans for developing renewable energy projects here.

“Scotland’s commitment to growing our low carbon, sustainable energy supply is well known and we have made great progress already with renewable electricity output having almost trebled since 2006 and with the equivalent of more than half of Scotland’s electricity demand now being met from renewable sources.”

ESB has a 90-year history, and has developed and operated power generation investments in Britain since 1992.

Paddy Hayes, an executive director at ESB, said: “The opening of ESB’s new office in Scotland is an important strategic development.

“The commitment supports our ambition to grow low carbon and renewable generation.”