Record wind power generated in Ireland over stormy weekend

Strong winds over the weekend led to a new Irish record in wind power generation. During Saturday more than 85 per cent of the Irish demand was temporarily covered by the renewable energy source, according to the real-time smart grid dashboard operated by grid provider EirGrid.

At one point, renewable generation reached 88.72 per cent, the vast majority of which came from wind. Green TD Brian Leddin, who is chairman of the Oireachtas Climate Committee, noted 4.5 gigawatts (GW) came from wind; "about the same power output as five Moneypoint power stations".

“That nearly 80 per cent of our energy came from renewables in the last 24 hours is a remarkable achievement of many, many people. And yet we can go a lot further. We were generating so much wind energy today that we were able to sell 10 per cent of it to the UK,” he tweeted on Saturday.

The UK set a new record the previous weekend as Storm Malik battered parts of Scotland and northern England. Wind speeds of up to 160km/h (100mph ) recorded in Scotland helped wind power generation to rise to a provisional all-time high of more than 19.5 GW – or more than half the UK's electricity.

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The Netherlands also achieved a new record on January 29th, when wind generated 42 per cent of the country's electricity.

Ireland already is a global leader in being able to accommodate renewable energy on its national grid, which is being strengthened with a view to being able to routinely take 80 per cent renewables by 2030.