The company was founded as Eirtricity (derived from the word Éire, Irish for "Ireland") in 1997 by Eddie O'Connor, developed generation capacity in Ireland based in counties Cavan, Donegal, Sligo and Wexford construction, though only 7 of a planned 200 turbines were actually built.

[1] The company sold its North American assets in October 2007 to the German Group E.ON for approximately $1.4bn.

[7] Airtricity came under fire in 2010 for an alleged lack of compassion in disconnecting customers with a good bill-paying record.

[9] As of May 2008, the company had 24 wind farms in operation throughout Ireland and the UK, with a total nameplate capacity of over 600 MW.

In 2010, SSE Airtricity signed a three-year deal to become the primary sponsor of the League of Ireland.