Third best September on record for Irish wind farms

Wind generation in Ireland was the third highest on record for a September month, according to Wind Energy Ireland (WEI), which today published its monthly wind energy report.

The latest figures show that wind energy provided 28 per cent of Ireland's electricity last month, while solar power and other renewables accounted for 3 per cent. Irish wind farms have generated 32 per cent of the country’s electricity over the first nine months of the year.

However, the average wholesale electricity price last month was the highest so far in 2024, as consumers continue to feel the pain of our dependency on imported fossil fuels.

Kerry wind farms continued to lead the way in decarbonising our electricity supply, producing more wind energy than any other county (108 GWh). Cork wind farms came in second with 107 GWh and, for the first time since we began publishing county generation data, in collaboration with Green Collective, Tipperary and Galway tied for third place (66 GWh). Mayo was the final county to reach the top five, producing 56 GWh.

Noel Cunniffe, CEO of Wind Energy Ireland said: “It is really positive to see the contribution that renewable energy made in September, with our wind farms providing more than a quarter of Ireland’s electricity last month.

“To use the renewable electricity being produced by our wind and solar farms, we need a strong electricity grid that can carry the power to our homes and businesses.

“Wind Energy Ireland welcomed the Government’s announcement to invest €750 million in the development of Ireland’s electricity grid as part of Budget 2025. We believe that it is an important investment in Ireland’s future so that we can continue to power local communities and grow our economy with more clean electricity.”

Noel Cunniffe added: “Last year Irish wind farms cut carbon emissions by twice as much as every other renewable energy source combined. Wind power is our number one source of clean energy.

“To meet the needs of our growing economy, we need to accelerate the delivery of new wind farms and to do this we need the Government to ensure that efforts to provide our country with more clean energy are not impeded by local County Development Plans blocking the development of new wind farms.”

Price of electricity

The average wholesale price of electricity in Ireland per megawatt-hour during September 2024 was €112.73, up slightly from €111.62 in September 2023.

Prices on days with the most wind power saw the average cost of a megawatt-hour of electricity fall by over 20 per cent to €86.35 per megawatt hour and rise to €135.64 on days when we relied almost entirely on fossil fuels.

Noel Cunniffe, CEO of Wind Energy Ireland concluded: “Affordability is really important to Irish families and businesses. 

“Every time a wind turbine or a set of solar panels is generating electricity, it is reducing our reliance on imported fossil fuels, helping to push down wholesale electricity prices and increasing our supply of clean energy.”

The results of this report are based on EirGrid’s SCADA data compiled by MullanGrid, market data provided by ElectroRoute and solar, other renewable and county-level wind generation data provided by Green Collective.