Celebrating the Impossible: Ireland’s First Renewable Energy Awards

In many ways the first Irish Renewable Energy Awards was a celebration of the impossible, writes Wind Energy Ireland’s Justin Moran.

Over the decades our industry has been told that the electricity grid would never be able to accommodate more than a handful of wind farms, that Ireland isn’t sunny enough for solar power, that renewable energy will never be able to compete with fossil fuels, that there’s no way to store electricity, that everything we’re trying to achieve is, frankly, impossible.

And so we did it anyway, we built an industry that point-blank refuses to fail. And more than 450 people packed the Royal Dublin Convention Centre, joining Wind Energy Ireland, Solar Ireland and our main sponsor, PwC, to celebrate the companies and individuals who prove that every single day.

That commitment to achieving the impossible is a legacy of the transformative contribution made by Dr Eddie O’Connor, who was posthumously awarded the Champion of Renewables award, which was accepted on behalf of his family by his daughter Lesley.

In Lesley’s moving tribute to her father, it was clear that his vision, his commitment to Irish energy independence and a world free of fossil fuels lives on in her and in her new organisation, Trifecta Ireland, which works with industry and State agencies to accelerate Ireland’s energy transition.

“My invitation to you is to join us as a coalition of the willing to continue to honour the legacy of Eddie O’Connor with urgency in your work,” she told the audience. “To deliver a fossil-free future for our children with a super grid to enable a Europe electrified by renewable energy. He continues to inspire me, he was a preacher and practitioner of the art of the possible.”

The rest of the winners’ roll call, ably conducted by the evening’s master of ceremonies Ivan Yates, showcased the full commitment of Ireland’s renewable energy industry to the art of the possible, from engaging with local communities to cutting-edge engineering, from supporting diversity and skills development to flagship projects driving the transition.

ESB was the bigger winner on the night, claiming three awards for their work promoting sustainability in renewable energy, skills development and sharing the best onshore wind project of the year with their colleagues in BNM for Oweninny 2.

Rachael McFarlane of the Skillnet Offshore Wind Academy presents the Renewable Skills Champion Award to Niru Dorrian and Ciara Hamilton of ESB.

Not far behind them, on the solar side, was BNRG Renewables who took home both the award for solar farm project of the year for Dunmurry Springs and Project Manager Patrick Donlon was an inspiring choice as Young Person of the Year.

Patrick Donlon, BNRG Renewables, receives the Young Industry Person of the Year award.

For storage it was a big win for the team at Statkraft who took back to Cork the prize for their Cushaling project, the country’s first 4-hour battery storage.

Bobby Smith of Energy Storage Ireland presents the Best Energy Storage Project Award to Tom Birney and Kevin O'Donovan of Statkraft Ireland.

And, at the opposite end of the country, Energia’s outstanding community outreach programme at Meenadreen wind farm in Donegal is now a multi-award winner having previously celebrated victory at the Wind Energy Awards.

But as important as it is to celebrate the developers who are out there on the ground delivering the projects that, inch by hardwon inch, get us closer to Irish energy independence, you can’t build anything without a supply-chain or the right experts at the right time.

There were wins for industry stalwarts XOCEAN, TNEI and Gavin & Doherty Geosolutions who won the coveted Offshore Wind Champion Award sponsored by the Irish Government, while the night’s other winners were Activ8 Solar Energies for an impressive rooftop solar installation at Glenpatrick Spring in Tipperary and Ohk Energy who were recognised for their work promoting diversity and inclusion in the industry.

Big projects and small projects, in rural Ireland or in our towns and cities, each one of them a celebration of the possible, each an achievement, building a stronger and more determined industry, one that continue to refuse to fail.

And that’s Eddie O’Connor’s legacy, it’s an intangible thing, it’s not a wind turbine or a set of solar panels, it’s not a new technology or a company, it’s a profound commitment carried by everyone who works in our industry, a shared knowledge that together we are doing what is, in many ways, the only job worth doing – we’re building a future free of fossil fuels and, regardless of the challenges and frustrations, no matter how many times we’re told it’s impossible, we’re going to do it anyway.

2025 Champion of Renewables Award went to the late Dr Eddie O’Connor