Inside Irish Wind Power - Ireland’s Clean Energy Hits Record Output

Irish Wind energy output hit a new record high of 1,942MW this morning (Wednesday) at 09.30, which is enough to power over 1.26 million Irish homes according to figures published by EirGrid, who monitor electricity generation and usage nationally.

The new record, set as families across Ireland prepared for the day ahead, is the second such record to be established already in 2015 and overtakes the previous record set on New Years Day of 1872MW raising the bar by a substantial further 70MW.

Since the start of the year Irish wind energy has met a third (33%) of all Irish electricity demand from Irish consumers and with high winds forecast beyond the coming weekend, this trend is set to continue.

When combined with figures from Northern Ireland, a new All- Island Wind Energy Record was also set this morning of 2490MW with the All-Island peak coming at 9.30am.

Ireland is in good company in setting new records for wind energy as several other EU states such as the UK, Germany and Denmark are also showing huge increases in their capacity to generate clean electricity from wind. Denmark in particular has just confirmed that over 39% of their national electricity use in 2014 came from wind power, a new world record.

Commenting on the new Irish wind energy record, IWEA Chief Executive, Kenneth Matthews said:
“2015 has seen wind energy in Ireland off to a bumper start. The huge potential for this clean energy to power Ireland is visible to everyone looking out their window today and Ireland is a leading part of the European drive towards renewable energy. “Last year, here in Ireland we spent €6.7bn on expensive foreign energy imports, and going forward we need to make sure that as much of this lost money stays in Ireland, to stimulate our own domestic economy. “Clean wind energy is delivering for Ireland, reducing our dependency on expensive foreign energy imports, promoting local investment and jobs, and helping to protect our environment for future generations.”

There are currently 188 wind farms operating in Ireland with the industry employing over 3,400 people nationwide.

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