Michael Barry, finance director of the state company, said Bord na Mona would consider acquisitions to achieve its expansion plans. He also pointed out that the debt issue was heavily oversubscribed, suggesting that the company will seek further debt finance.

"We've now opened the largest capital market in the world, " said Barry. "We've an open mind about going back."

Born na Mona has planning permission for a 180-turbine wind farm near Oweninny, Co Mayo, that will produce 320 megawatts of electricity.

When finished it would be the largest onshore wind farm on the island of Ireland and one of the largest in Europe.

The project is expected to take seven to 10 years to complete at an estimated cost of 300m.

By comparison, a modern gasfired electricity plant generates 400MW of electricity.

However, the company notes that there continue to be issues in connecting wind farms to the national grid.

Barry said the expansion into waste management would be increasingly important to the company, which already has planning permission for a landfill site in Co Kildare, and that it would examine alternatives including waste-toenergy plants that burn industrial and commercial waste to produce electricity.

Barry said this would make sense in linking up two strands of the company's strategy.