NTR targets small success as it buys 14 wind turbines in the North

Four of the projects are operational and 10 are in development.

The projects are at the smaller end of the wind turbine business. Each will produce 250 kilowatts of energy - enough to power a small factory or a large farm.

"We have identified the smaller single turbine sector of the UK wind market as being particularly attractive, with projects of this size delivering strong cash yields over a 20-year period," NTR chief executive Rosheen McGuckian said.

Ms McGuckian added that she expects the projects to generate revenue for the company in the near term.

The acquisition comes through NTR's purchase of energy services provider KN Energy.

NTR now expects to construct, commission and operate at least 18 250-kilowatt projects in Northern Ireland in the next year.

"These are very unobtrusive small turbines, there's one at any given location... they might be caught up in the back part of a farm somewhere," Ms McGuckian said.

"We buy them in frameworks. Typically we try and get five or more of these projects in any kind of framework that we buy into."

The acquisition is part of the company's strategy to invest in 150 megawatts of wind projects in Ireland, the UK and the Nordic countries, which was criticised by some shareholders at the company's agm last month.

Some 13pc of the 150-megawatt total will be in small projects like the new acquisitions in Northern Ireland, Ms McGuckian said.

She said the Irish Government had been "very supportive" of the renewable energy sector, but added that there is a lot to be done if Ireland is to meet the renewable energy targets set by the EU.

Ireland "needs to invest in somewhere between 200 and 250 megawatts of new wind every year between now and 2020", Ms McGuckian said.

NTR was founded in 1978 to build the first toll road in Ireland, before diversifying into renewable energy development.

Since 1999 it has constructed and operated 1.5 gigawatts of wind projects across Ireland, the UK and the US.