The energy division of US firm General Electric (GE) has bought two wind power projects in Ireland which will have a combined capacity of 51MW.

The 17MW Acres wind farm (pictured) is being built near Ballyshannon in County Donegal, 210 kilometres northwest of Dublin while another 34MW wind farm called Barranafaddock is being built near Ballyduff, 230 kilometres southwest of Dublin.

They are expected to generate enough electricity to power more than 33,300 homes and cut up to 75,000 tons of greenhouse gases, developer Element Power said.

Andrew Marsden, Managing Director and European leader at GE Energy Financial Services said: “The combination of Ireland’s strong wind resources with a stable regulatory regime and well-structured feed-in tariff for wind energy present attractive growth opportunities for us, our partners and the country.”

The wind farms, which are both scheduled for completion next year, are expected to help Ireland meet its target of generating 40% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020.

GE Energy Financial Services has a portfolio with more than 12GW of wind projects in operation or under construction.