Record-breaking wind power in September generates one-third of State’s electricity

Strong winds in September delivered a third consecutive record-breaking month of wind power generation in the State, as the volume of electricity generated by wind last month was up 25 per cent on the same time last year, according to Wind Energy Ireland.

The Industry lobby group has called on the Government to include “vital investment” in next week’s budget for the bodies involved in approving renewable energy developments.

The latest monthly report published by Wind Energy Ireland shows that wind energy provided 32 per cent of the Republic’s electricity in September, and Irish wind farms provided 32 per cent of electricity over the first nine months of the year.

Fossil fuels

The average wholesale price of electricity in the State per megawatt-hour last month was €111.62, down 60 per cent from €283.25 in September 2022.

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The average wholesale price for days with the most wind power was €88.34, rising to €132.52 on days when the Republic relied almost entirely on fossil fuels.

Noel Cunniffe, chief executive of Wind Energy Ireland said that the development of renewable energy, as well as the grid infrastructure and planning reform required to supply it, “must accelerate”.

While he welcomed progress on the Planning and Development Bill approved by Cabinet this week, he said “reforming the planning system will achieve little if the resources are not in place”.

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“Budget 2024 will be announced next week, and we are calling on the Government to make sure that An Bord Pleanála, the NPWS (National Parks & Wildlife Service), Mara (Maritime Area Regulatory Authority) and local authorities involved in the environmental assessment of renewable energy will have the appropriate funds to hire sufficient expert staff to meet the demand on their services,” he said.

Climate targets

“Without this vital investment, we will fail to grow the amount of indigenous energy we produce, fail to continue decreasing wholesale electricity prices and put at risk our ability to reach our legally binding climate targets,” he added.

The report figures are based on EirGrid’s supervisory control and data acquisition data compiled by MullanGrid and on market data provided by ElectroRoute.