Ireland Reports Successful Month For Wind Power Generation

Wind Energy Ireland’s report for April 2024 shows that the country produced 1076GWh of wind power over the month. This comes very close to the record production of 1112GWh in April 2023. The wind power generated was enough to provide 32% of Ireland’s electricity needs throughout April, marking a win for renewable energy.

“These results emphasise the contribution that wind energy is making to insulate Irish families and businesses from expensive fossil fuels…But to significantly cut our carbon emissions, we need to accelerate the pace at which we build more on and offshore wind farms by modernising our planning system to ensure that planning applications are thoroughly, but quickly, examined.”

Noel Cunniffe, Wind Energy Ireland chief executive

Ireland plans to capitalise on this success further with the Designated Maritime Area Plan which will help to develop offshore wind projects. The plan has designated 4 key areas for potential offshore projects, all located on the south coast of Ireland. While the projects still need to go through public consultation, it is hoped that the first of these will be operational as soon as 2030. The areas have already undergone environmental assessment and involved coastal communities, in the hope that any objections may be minimised.

Noel Cunniffe heralded the announcement of the Designated Maritime Area Plan earlier this month as ‘a historic day for the development of offshore wind energy in Ireland.’

Efforts to improve the grid and energy storage will also be required going forward, with reports that just under 10% of potential wind energy was lost in April as the grid could not store it. Nevertheless, the country hopes to produce 37GW of offshore energy by 2050 and also begin exporting renewable energy.

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Sources:
https://renews.biz/92987/irish-wind-fleet-delivers-strong-april/
https://renewablesnow.com/news/ireland-unveils-4-proposed-areas-for-offshore-wind-off-south-coast-856824/
https://www.rechargenews.com/wind/ireland-aims-for-37gw-of-offshore-energy-by-2050-eying-export-market/2-1-1639065