One-third of Ireland’s electricity supply comes from wind energy, a new report has shown. According to details in the Irish Wind Energy Association (IWEA) annual report, Ireland’s industry set a record for wind energy generation last year. In 2019, wind energy met 32.5% of our electricity demand – the second highest in Europe and the highest in onshore wind. This equates to 9,497,000 MWh (megawatt hour) for the year.
In total, there is now more than MW (megawatt) of installed wind energy capacity in the Republic of Ireland. There were 24 new wind farms connected in 2019, with a combined installed capacity of 463 MW, making it the second-best year on record for new connections.
Speaking about the results, IWEA CEO Dr David Connolly said: “Wind energy in Ireland is going from strength to strength. Every year we are cutting more CO2 emissions, reducing Ireland’s dependency on imported fossil fuels and driving down the wholesale price of electricity.
“The two dozen new wind farms we connected last year will enable us to build on our success in 2019 and we have already set new records for the amount of wind energy on the system in the first two months of 2020.”
More potential
Dr Connolly highlighted that wind energy in Ireland has not come close to matching its potential.
“Our target in the Climate Action Plan is to double our installed onshore wind capacity and we are confident we have the pipeline to enable us to do so. We also have enormous offshore wind energy resources, with more than 12 GW of offshore projects at some stage of development”.
“With the right planning systems on land and offshore, and the right policies, there is no reason why most of Ireland’s electricity should not be coming from wind energy in the second half of this decade,” he continued.
Commenting on the first auction of the new Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS1), he said: “That is why it is so important that the Government moves ahead to ensure the first auction in RESS, announced last month, concludes on time in June.”
He added: “the delays so far in getting the scheme set up mean we’re already looking at a serious slowdown in construction, when we need to be building at a much faster rate. Any more time lost would slow down the development of new projects and pose a threat to the delivery of the Climate Action Plan.”
Last week, the Irish Farmers Journal delved into the details of the first RESS1 auction, which is expected to be vital in helping Ireland meet its 70% renewable electricity targets by 2030. For a full report on the terms of the scheme, visit the Irish Farmers Journal website.
Lost wind energy
Despite the strong results, there is growing industry concern about the amount of wind energy lost every year. In 2019, this amounted to more than 1m MWh of electricity, just under 8% of total production, and enough to power more than 200,000 homes.
This is due to a practice known as dispatch down, which occurs when EirGrid, as the transmission system operator (TSO), instructs a wind farm to produce less electricity, or even to shut down entirely.
This occurs for two reasons. First, the transmission system in a particular part of the country might not be strong enough to transport all of the wind energy from where it is generated to where it is needed.
The second possibility is a practice known as curtailment where, to ensure system stability, the amount of wind energy on the system is not currently allowed to exceed a limit of 65% of demand.
Dr Connolly said: “These record levels of dispatch down mean an enormous amount of lost clean energy, which must be replaced by fossil fuels”.
“We need a stronger transmission system to ensure that we are not wasting electricity and, if we are to achieve our 2030 targets and beyond them to 2040 and 2050, then we are going to need a plan to build a stronger electricity grid,” he said.
Wind energy’s share of electricity demand in 2019: 32.5% – up from 29% in 2018.Total amount of electricity generated by wind in 2019: 9,497,000 MWh – up from 8,691,000 MWh in 2018. To put this in context, the total electricity demand from an average family home in Ireland is 4.6MWh.Total installed wind energy capacity at end of 2019: 4,130 MW.Number of new wind farms built: 24.Total volume of new capacity installed: 463 MW.Amount of wind energy dispatched down in 2019: 1,008,046MWh (7.7%), up from 707,410 MWh (6%) in 2018. Read more
Ireland’s first renewable electricity auction – how does it work?
One-third of Ireland’s electricity supply comes from wind energy, a new report has shown. According to details in the Irish Wind Energy Association (IWEA) annual report, Ireland’s industry set a record for wind energy generation last year. In 2019, wind energy met 32.5% of our electricity demand – the second highest in Europe and the highest in onshore wind. This equates to 9,497,000 MWh (megawatt hour) for the year.
In total, there is now more than MW (megawatt) of installed wind energy capacity in the Republic of Ireland. There were 24 new wind farms connected in 2019, with a combined installed capacity of 463 MW, making it the second-best year on record for new connections.
Speaking about the results, IWEA CEO Dr David Connolly said: “Wind energy in Ireland is going from strength to strength. Every year we are cutting more CO2 emissions, reducing Ireland’s dependency on imported fossil fuels and driving down the wholesale price of electricity.
“The two dozen new wind farms we connected last year will enable us to build on our success in 2019 and we have already set new records for the amount of wind energy on the system in the first two months of 2020.”
More potential
Dr Connolly highlighted that wind energy in Ireland has not come close to matching its potential.
“Our target in the Climate Action Plan is to double our installed onshore wind capacity and we are confident we have the pipeline to enable us to do so. We also have enormous offshore wind energy resources, with more than 12 GW of offshore projects at some stage of development”.
“With the right planning systems on land and offshore, and the right policies, there is no reason why most of Ireland’s electricity should not be coming from wind energy in the second half of this decade,” he continued.
Commenting on the first auction of the new Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS1), he said: “That is why it is so important that the Government moves ahead to ensure the first auction in RESS, announced last month, concludes on time in June.”
He added: “the delays so far in getting the scheme set up mean we’re already looking at a serious slowdown in construction, when we need to be building at a much faster rate. Any more time lost would slow down the development of new projects and pose a threat to the delivery of the Climate Action Plan.”
Last week, the Irish Farmers Journal delved into the details of the first RESS1 auction, which is expected to be vital in helping Ireland meet its 70% renewable electricity targets by 2030. For a full report on the terms of the scheme, visit the Irish Farmers Journal website.
Lost wind energy
Despite the strong results, there is growing industry concern about the amount of wind energy lost every year. In 2019, this amounted to more than 1m MWh of electricity, just under 8% of total production, and enough to power more than 200,000 homes.
This is due to a practice known as dispatch down, which occurs when EirGrid, as the transmission system operator (TSO), instructs a wind farm to produce less electricity, or even to shut down entirely.
This occurs for two reasons. First, the transmission system in a particular part of the country might not be strong enough to transport all of the wind energy from where it is generated to where it is needed.
The second possibility is a practice known as curtailment where, to ensure system stability, the amount of wind energy on the system is not currently allowed to exceed a limit of 65% of demand.
Dr Connolly said: “These record levels of dispatch down mean an enormous amount of lost clean energy, which must be replaced by fossil fuels”.
“We need a stronger transmission system to ensure that we are not wasting electricity and, if we are to achieve our 2030 targets and beyond them to 2040 and 2050, then we are going to need a plan to build a stronger electricity grid,” he said.
Wind energy’s share of electricity demand in 2019: 32.5% – up from 29% in 2018.Total amount of electricity generated by wind in 2019: 9,497,000 MWh – up from 8,691,000 MWh in 2018. To put this in context, the total electricity demand from an average family home in Ireland is 4.6MWh.Total installed wind energy capacity at end of 2019: 4,130 MW.Number of new wind farms built: 24.Total volume of new capacity installed: 463 MW.Amount of wind energy dispatched down in 2019: 1,008,046MWh (7.7%), up from 707,410 MWh (6%) in 2018. Read more
Ireland’s first renewable electricity auction – how does it work?
This is a subscriber-only article
SHARING OPTIONS: