The latest figures show that Ireland hit a new milestone by passing 5,000MW of installed onshore wind capacity for the first time, reinforcing our position as a global leader in onshore wind.  

The amount of electricity generated by our wind farms last year (13,258GWh) was more than one-and-a-half times the total consumption of all residential customers.

Noel Cunniffe, CEO of Wind Energy Ireland, said: “Our members can be proud of the role Irish wind farms played last year in supporting electricity consumers and reducing our carbon emissions.”

“Ireland now has just over 5,000MW of onshore wind energy, more than halfway to the Climate Action Plan target of 9,000MW by 2030.  The more wind we can get on the electricity grid, the less we rely on imported gas and the more we can cut our carbon emissions and keep your money at home.”

Grid challenges

Despite nearly a third of our electricity coming from wind farms last year, the share of electricity provided by wind was down by 3 per cent when compared to 2023.

This is largely due to wind farms being shut down because the electricity grid is not strong enough.

This leads to greater use of expensive, imported, fossil fuels which drives up electricity bills and carbon emissions.

“Last year was the worst on record for the amount of wind power lost, said Cunniffe. "Every time a wind turbine is shut down because the grid can’t take the electricity it means higher bills and more carbon emissions.”

“Making the electricity grid strong enough to accommodate increasing volumes of renewable energy is essential. Building out our energy storage infrastructure is also vital so that we can save excess renewable energy for when we need it.

“The funding announced in Budget 2025 will help to reinforce the existing grid infrastructure and a commitment to continue proactively supporting EirGrid and ESB Networks to build a much stronger grid should be a key focus for the incoming government.”

Second best December on record

The annual figures follow a particularly strong performance last month with wind energy providing 41 per cent of our electricity in December, making it the second-best December on record for the amount of electricity produced.

However, in bad news for consumers the average wholesale price of electricity in Ireland per megawatt-hour during December 2024 was €136.99, compared to €88.97 in December 2023 which reflects steadily rising gas prices over the second half of last year.

Prices last month on days with the most wind power saw the average cost of a megawatt-hour of electricity fall to €78.86 but more than treble to €294.37 on days when we relied almost entirely on fossil fuels.

Cork leads in December

Cork wind farms led the way last month, producing more wind energy than any other county. They were followed by Kerry, then Galway and, for the first time, Offaly made the top four counties with the opening of a number of new wind farms in the county.

Cunniffe said: “Irish people want the clean energy that wind farms provide and by growing our renewable energy sector, we can build an Ireland that is energy independent, delivering warm homes, cleaner air and one that meets the needs of our growing economy.

“The incoming Dáil and Seanad will be at the forefront of enabling our energy transition. Wind Energy Ireland is asking political parties to prioritise Irish electricity consumers who want secure, affordable, power throughout 2025 and beyond.”

The results of this report are based on EirGrid’s SCADA data compiled by MullanGrid, market data provided by ElectroRoute and county-level wind generation data provided by Green Collective.