Ireland is set to finalize an agreement with the British government to enable the export of power generated at Ireland's wind farms to be directly exported to the UK.

Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Pat Rabbitte and his British counterpart, Ed Davey are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding to enable the export of wind energy from Ireland to parts of the UK. The agreement will finally be singed following a year of talks between the two countries.

Under the agreement, Irish wind farms will directly supply power to Britain's national electricity grid. Several large projects, which are dependent on the agreement, are already in the early stages of planning in the two countries. Industry members have said that the agreement would enable investments of billions of euro and has the potential to create hundreds of new jobs.

The memorandum of understanding is just the first step in the agreement and will have to be followed by a full intergovernmental agreement as well as supporting legislations in the two countries. The two governments will also be required to sort of technical and planning issues in the power trade. Expets say that the memorandum is step forward but a lot needs to be done on both sides to enable export of wind power.