Northern Ireland’s Department for the Economy has published the latest renewable electricity generation figures showing a reduction from the previous year.
The statistics, produced quarterly based on the previous 12 month period, show renewables generation accounted for 45.8% of NI’s electricity use, ending June 2024.
This a drop of over 5% since the record 51% in 2022, when 3825MW was generated from renewable sources in the country.
RenewableNI director Steven Agnew (pictured) said: “These figures will show slight changes every quarter due to changes in the weather – they should be increasing as we invest in renewables.
“Unfortunately, few new projects are being developed.”
“The current renewables generation figure of 45.8% being produced is based largely on the development that took place under the old ROCs scheme.
“In its last year, 400MW of renewables were connected.
“This decade only four new wind farms have become operational– a combined total of only 108MW.
“The Climate Act set a legal obligation to have 80% by 2030, which means we need to more than double the generation to meet the increased demand as we electrify heat and transport.”
“The warning from the two previous quarter drops wasn’t heeded by policymakers… The target can still be met, but we need urgent policy action to deliver the pipeline of projects… These statistics prove business as usual is falling well short.
“We have an executive in place, now they need to work together to benefit the Northern Ireland consumer and environment.”