Belfast Council has become the first organisation to be fueled by the city’s newest wind farm at Ballyutoag
Belfast Council has become the first organisation to be fueled by the city’s newest wind farm, and this will result in the city’s leisure centres and community centres, as well as its biggest venues, being powered by renewable energy.
The Ballyutoag wind farm in the Belfast Hills began supplying power and officially opened around early 2024. Belfast City Council has just signed a deal to use its green energy, following the wind farm’s license grant in July 2025 and its development by 3T Power.
The contract will see some of the city’s most famous venues powered solely by renewable energy for the first time. They include City Hall, St George’s Market, Belfast Castle, Belfast Zoo, 2 Royal Avenue and over 200 other buildings, including leisure and community centres.
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The electricity will be transferred from the firm’s latest wind farm project at Ballyutoag in the Belfast Hills, onto the NI grid and then used by council-owned venues, reducing its carbon footprint and climate impact.
While renewable energy had been used at some council venues previously, this is the first time the entire council supply will be taken from a NI-based renewable source, supporting jobs creation locally.
Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Tracy Kelly, said: “We want to lead by example and do our part to make a real difference to cutting emissions and encouraging others to do the same.
“As the city’s community planning authority, we have taken the lead in shaping and paving the way for a greener and more sustainable city, with transformational projects which will, in time, see real changes to how we live, work and future-proof our city.
“This contract underlines our own ambitions as an organisation to modernise and future-proof our buildings and, as the owner of one of the largest estates in the city, we want to encourage others to do the same – to put their shoulder to the wheel and work with us to help make the city’s climate change targets a reality.”
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