Mainstream Renewable Power chief executive Mary Quaney is stepping down while the company is closing its Dublin headquarters and moving its base to Oslo, home of its parent, as it seeks to cut costs following a period of turbulence in its main market in Chile.
The decision to close the Dublin headquarters will affect the company’s remaining 20 employees in the Irish capital.
Mainstream, which was founded in 2008 by the late green energy entrepreneur Eddie O’Connor, had about 105 employees in late 2023 in Dublin when it initially set out to cut costs.
A spokesman for Mainstream could not say how many of the remaining employees in Dublin will leave the company, as it enters a period of consultation with staff. The exits over the past 15 months have been through redundancies and natural attrition.
Ms Quaney will be succeeded by Morten Henriksen, currently chief executive of Norwegian state-owned carbon capture and storage company Gassnova, at the start of April, Mainstream said in a statement on Thursday.
The Kilkenny native will continue to support Mainstream as an advisor for a period before exiting “in the second half of 2025 to pursue other interests”, the company said.
Oslo-based Aker Horizons acquired control of Mainstream in 2021 in a deal that valued the business at €900 million.
“In order to reduce costs and leverage the resources of its majority shareholder Aker Horizons, Mainstream is relocating its headquarters from Dublin to Oslo in the first half of 2025,” it added. “This is in line with its plan to reduce its cost base by approximately 65 per cent by 2026, relative to 2023 levels.”
Mainstream has taken as much as the equivalent of about €890 million of impairment charges against its Chilean assets since the start of 2022, amid significant challenges in that market.
It won contracts in Chile in 2016 to develop 1.4 gigawatts (GW) of wind and solar energy projects – the equivalent of about a quarter of peak Irish electricity demand. However, a series of problems affecting the Chilean electricity market has resulted in financial losses for a number of renewable-energy companies in recent times.
Net losses narrowed by 40 per cent to €325 million as asset impairment charges against its problem Chilean wind and solar portfolio declined.
Mainstream’s chief financial officer, Julie Berg, declined to comment during a presentation to investors two weeks ago on ongoing speculation that it is planning to sell the Chilean platform, its largest asset, known as Andes Renovables.
However, she said the company was “continually reviewing” its options for the Andes portfolio. Management is currently focusing on “optimising the performance of the operating assets” and developing pipeline projects in the South American country.
More recently, Mainstream has been streamlining its business to focus on growth in core markets South Africa, Australia and the Philippines, as well as certain offshore projects.
Aker Horizons acquired a controlling stake in Mainstream four years ago. It owns 58.4 per cent of the company, while Japan’s Mitsui Bank holds a further 25 per cent interest. Legacy Irish investors, including the estate of Mr O’Connor, own a little over 16 per cent.
Mainstream’s losses before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) narrowed to €20 million last year from €138 million for 2023, helped by an improving commercial performance of the operating Chilean assets.
