Irish wind farm operators will need around €5billion of investment to meet its 2020 renewables target, according to a new report.

Stockbroker’s Davy claims onshore wind projects of around 3.5GW of capacity needs to be built to generate 40% of renewable energy within the next eight years.

The news follows the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) report last month warning Ireland has a lot of work to do to improve energy efficiency and develop a range of gas and electricity infrastructure projects.

Davy’s report warns of the challenges of raising money for the projects and suggests energy utilities that dominate the electricity market are best placed to support a large scale roll-out of wind power.

The firm’s analysts said: “The financing landscape favours larger and more experienced industry players over the short-to-medium term. Larger companies represent bankable counterparties from the perspective of project financing, while experienced developers can bring in-house procurement and/or framework agreements to bear on improving project economics.”