Second best ever April for wind energy in Ireland

Wind power generation was the second highest on record for an April month according to Wind Energy Ireland, which published its monthly report.

The latest figures show that Irish wind farms generated 1,076 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of power in April 2024, slightly less than the previous record of 1,112 GWh in April 2023.

Wind energy provided 32 per cent of Ireland’s electricity last month while the report also shows the average wholesale price of electricity in April 2024 was €88.52, down 30 per cent from €125.57 in April 2023.

Kerry maintained its lead in producing more wind power than any other county with 128 GWh generated last month. It was closely followed by Cork (120 GWh), Tipperary (76.6 GWh), Galway (76.4 GWh) and Donegal (55 GWh). Together, the top three counties provided 30 per cent of Ireland’s wind power.

Noel Cunniffe, CEO of Wind Energy Ireland, said: “These results emphasise the contribution that wind energy is making to insulate Irish families and businesses from expensive fossil fuels.

“We know we can make an even bigger difference if we can connect more wind farms and last week saw significant progress with the announcement of Ireland’s first Designated Maritime Area Plan (DMAP), marking a historic moment for the development of offshore wind energy in Ireland.”

Noel Cunniffe continued: “The SEAI’s most recent National Energy Balance report shows Ireland’s energy related emissions fell to their lowest level in three decades last year, which is a positive step in the right direction.

“But to significantly cut our carbon emissions, we need to accelerate the pace at which we build more on and offshore wind farms by modernising our planning system to ensure that planning applications are thoroughly, but quickly, examined.”

Wind Energy Ireland also pointed out that 9.6 per cent of potential wind energy was lost in the first three months of this year because the grid was not strong enough to accommodate it. When this happens wind farms are instructed to reduce the amount of power they produce or stop entirely.

Noel Cunniffe said: “We also need an electricity grid strong enough to decarbonise our energy system. We are calling for cross-party political support at every level for EirGrid and ESB Networks to develop a much stronger grid for Ireland and to deliver critical projects like the North-South Interconnector.”

Noel Cunniffe concluded: “With local and European elections taking place next month, we are encouraging candidates to include planning and grid in their top priorities for election. If we all work together to overcome these challenges, we will deliver cleaner power, cheaper power and lay the foundation for Irish energy independence for our communities.”

The analysis also confirmed that wind energy has supplied 38 per cent of Ireland’s electricity in the first four months of this year, while the grid carbon intensity averaged 222 g/kWh during the same period.

The results of this report are based on EirGrid’s SCADA data compiled by MullanGrid, market data provided by ElectroRoute and SEMO daily metered generated data compiled by Green Collective.