Reuters has reported that Eddie O’Connor announced he aims to raise some Euro 300m in order to fund new firm Mainstream Renewable Power.

Mr O’Connor said that the UK target to obtain one-third of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020 is “realistic”, despite the fact that the figure currently stands at 5%.

He said: “UK support is good enough to build offshore wind if you’ve got the will to do it”.

He added that wind turbine prices have risen by 50% over the past five years, meaning that wind power could now compete with natural gas.

The executive also spoke of a supergrid that could link turbines from Ireland to the Baltic, as well as the UK, Denmark and Germany.

In this way, he claimed, the perceived unreliability of wind power could be overcome.

This comes as a study into the feasibility of an interconnected grid linking wind power from Northern Ireland, Ireland and Scotland was launched this week.

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