Installed Irish wind capacity has passed the 5GW mark, with wind farms providing almost a third of the island of the country’s electricity in 2024, according to Wind Energy Ireland.
The amount of electricity generated by Irish wind farms last year (13,258 GWh) was more than one and a half times the total consumption of all residential customers.
Noel Cunniffe, CEO of Wind Energy Ireland, said: “Our members can be proud of the role Irish wind farms played last year in supporting electricity consumers and reducing our carbon emissions.”
“Ireland now has just over 5,000 MW of onshore wind energy, over halfway to the Climate Action Plan target of 9,000 MW by 2030.
“The more wind we can get on the electricity grid, the less we rely on imported gas and the more we can cut our carbon emissions and keep your money at home.”
Despite nearly a third of Ireland’s electricity coming from wind farms last year, the share of electricity provided by wind was down by 3% when compared to 2023.
This is largely due to wind farms being shut down because the electricity grid is not strong enough.
Cunniffe added: “Last year was the worst on record for the amount of wind power lost.
“Every time a wind turbine is shut down because the grid can’t take the electricity it means higher bills and more carbon emissions.”
“Making the electricity grid strong enough to accommodate increasing volumes of renewable energy is essential.
“Building out our energy storage infrastructure is also vital so that we can save excess renewable energy for when we need it.”
“The funding announced in Budget 2025 will help to reinforce the existing grid infrastructure and a commitment to continue proactively supporting EirGrid and ESB Networks to build a much stronger grid should be a key focus for the incoming Government.”
The annual figures follow a particularly strong performance last month with wind energy providing 41% of electricity in December, making it the second-best December on record for the amount of electricity produced in Ireland.
Cork wind farms led the way last month, producing more wind energy than any other county. They were followed by Kerry, then Galway and, for the first time, Offaly made the top four counties with the opening of a number of new wind farms in the county.