Northern Ireland Minister for Agriculture Environment and Rural Affairs Andrew Muir has announced the launch of a wind energy market engagement between the Forest Service and the renewable electricity sector.
This engagement invites wind energy developers to identify those sites on the Forest Service estate, that are of greatest interest for future wind energy generation.
The Forest Service is an executive agency delivering forestry and plant health functions on behalf of the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA).
The agency manages approximately 75,000ha of forest estate, which represents almost 6% of Northern Ireland land area.
The minister said that Forest Service forests could contribute to meeting the requirement for 80% electricity consumption from renewable sources by 2030, as set out in the Climate Change Act (Northern Ireland) 2022.
“I recognise the significant potential for DAERA forests to contribute to Northern Ireland’s renewable electricity and climate change targets, while continuing to manage our forests sustainably,” he said.
“This market engagement provides the opportunity for the renewable electricity sector to share its assessment of how the potential may be realised.
“Input from the sector will greatly assist my department’s analysis of, which forests on its estate have the greatest potential to contribute to future wind energy generation.
“I look forward to receiving the market responses and working with the sector towards achieving Northern Ireland’s renewable electricity commitments,” Minister Muir added.
The Construction Procurement and Delivery (CPD) is running this engagement exercise on behalf of the Forest Service.
Interest parties are invited to respond through the CPD eTendersNI portal by 3:00p.m on March 31, 2025.
