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An Irish-born entrepreneur who made his fortune in technology and telecommunications has announced a 10 million euro investment in a green energy project in Cork that aims to create 80 jobs in two years.
Pearse Flynn has acquired Crosshaven Boatyard as the headquarters of its new company, Green Rebel Marine, to serve the future needs of offshore wind farms.
The company will use the nine-acre site as a base to inspect, equip and service a network of planned wind farms along the Irish coast. The shipyard will continue its normal operations as a shipyard.
Mr. Flynn, a native of East Cork and owner and director of the British debt solutions company Creditfix, also purchased two high-tech ships specially equipped for the new business.
The first ship, the Bibby Athena, to be renamed the Roman Rebel, has already arrived in Cork. The second is scheduled to arrive later this year.
Plans for offshore wind farms are at an advanced stage and operators are examining several potential fixed and floating wind farm sites along the coast from Dundalk to Cork.
Its construction will increase Ireland’s capacity to produce renewable energy and create an entire sector to service the sites.
Flynn said he believes Green Rebel Marine will eventually support hundreds of jobs along the coast.
“Ireland is on the brink of a green revolution that will deliver five gigawatts of wind power, not generated on land, but at sea,” he said.
“Green Rebel Marine will work closely with the operators of this new range of wind turbines to ensure that they continue to operate through the use of trained sailors who are trained here.
“We have already hired some of the industry’s leading scientists who will help conduct surveys in the coming months, and our team will continue to be involved in these projects until they are operational and beyond.
The Ballycotton-born and now mostly Glasgow-based entrepreneur made headlines around the world in 2000, when, at the height of the dot-com boom, he sold Newbridge Networks to Alcatel for nearly € 8 billion.
Next, he created Damovo, a systems integrator; he then bailed out call center company Contact4 before establishing Creditfix, one of Britain’s largest personal insolvency advisers.
He has held senior positions in various companies, billing in billions a year, including Wang and Compaq, and has owned shares in Scottish football clubs, including Celtic.
Since 2018, he has invested millions of his own personal fortune in his native Ballycotton to help it realize its full tourism potential, investing in restaurants, a marine leisure business, a children’s playground and the magnificent restoration of Sea Church.
He now plans to use Green Rebel Marine to develop a Center of Excellence in Crosshaven to train and develop the staff necessary to meet the future needs of the floating wind farm industry.
“The cost of building these floating offshore wind farms is coming down and there is a rush among operators to see who will be the first to market,” he said.
“Unlike the challenges posed by such projects on land, these ocean-based sites will be largely out of the public eye.
“Ireland has the potential to become a net exporter of electricity within a decade, rather than relying on imported fossil fuels. Green Rebel Marine combines the best of the blue and green economies. We will create and maintain jobs in Ireland and become a world leader in this field. “
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