36 per cent of Ireland’s power provided by wind in January

The January Wind Energy report shows that wind energy provided 36 per cent of Ireland’s electricity in January 2024, meaning that over a third of our electricity last month was produced by wind power.

The latest figures, published by Wind Energy Ireland, show that the demand for electricity during January 2024 increased slightly when compared to the same month last year, while the amount of electricity generated by wind farms was one of the highest ever recorded for the month of January.

The total electricity demand last month was 3,831 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of power and wind energy generated 1,379 GWh.

Noel Cunniffe, CEO of Wind Energy Ireland, said: “This is a strong start to the year and we expect to see Irish wind farms building on their success in 2023, which was a record-breaking year for wind power generation.

“New wind farms, along with solar and battery projects, will be connecting before the end of 2024 which will further reduce Ireland’s emissions, but we really need to accelerate the delivery of onshore and offshore renewable projects if we are to achieve a zero-carbon society for Ireland.”

Noel Cunniffe continued: “We hope to see the new Planning and Development Bill enacted this year which will help to modernise the Irish planning system. Resourcing must also be a top priority for Government as we need more people with the right skills in State agencies like An Bord Pleanála and the National Parks & Wildlife Service to help achieve our wind energy targets.

“The quicker that projects can clear the planning system, the sooner they can be built and start delivering clean electricity to power our homes, businesses and local communities.”

Wholesale prices

There was also good news for electricity consumers. The report found that the average wholesale price of electricity in Ireland per megawatt-hour during January 2024 was €99.90, down from €162.16 the previous year.

Prices on days with the most wind power saw the average cost of a megawatt-hour of electricity fall even further to €68.08 per megawatt hour, rising to €130.30 on days when we relied almost entirely on fossil fuels.

Noel Cunniffe concluded: “The fall in the average price of wholesale electricity in comparison to January 2023 is welcome news. Electricity generated from Irish wind farms replaces expensive imported fossil fuels and by adding more wind power to the system, we can cut our carbon emissions and cut our electricity bills.

“Having an affordable, reliable source of electricity is essential to our everyday lives and the more domestic clean electricity we can produce, the more we can secure our supply of energy and protect consumers from high energy prices that are driven by fossil fuels.”

The results of this report are based on EirGrid’s SCADA data compiled by MullanGrid and on market data provided by ElectroRoute.