The Monaincha wind farm is designed to supply electricity to the Irish national grid rather than export it to Britain.
Kevin O’Donovan, the company’s chief development officer for Ireland, said energy minister Pat Rabbitte’s recent decision to introduce a new round of supports for green energy had prompted it to move ahead with the project.
“There are a lot of things that you need to have in place for a wind energy project,” he said. “That was one of them, so we decided to go ahead.”
Mr O’Donovan said the turbines the company intends to instal at Monaincha are designed to operate at lower wind speeds than those generally used in Ireland.
“In that respect, they are new technology,” he added.
The project is at the end of the planning stage.
Mr O’Donovan said the company hopes to have the turbines on site in Tipperary in about 12 months’ time.
Last month, Element said it planned to invest €8 billion in Ireland on the back of a deal with the British national grid company National Grid Transmission.
The company proposes building 40 new wind farms in midland counties and channelling the energy to Britain via dedicated underwater cables.
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