2024 has been described as “the worst year on record” for the amount of wind power lost as the share of electricity in Ireland supplied by wind fell.
The drop has been attributed to grid constraints by Wind Energy Ireland. The energy company has published its annual report, which said that wind farms are closing because the electricity grid is not strong enough. Despite wind supplying almost a third of all electricity to the island of Ireland last year, the share of electricity provided by wind fell by 3 per cent compared to 2023.
The report said that Ireland surpassed 5,000 MW of onshore wind, which is more than halfway to the 2030 target. This was described as a “new milestone” by the company, which said the figures reinforced Ireland’s position “as a global leader in offshore wind.”
The results of the 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.
However, Noel Cunniffe, CEO of Wind Energy Ireland pointed to grid challenges.
He said wind farms being shut down because of these challenges leads to “greater use of expensive, imported, fossil fuels which drives up electricity bills and carbon emissions.”
Mr Cunniffe added: “Last year was the worst on record for the amount of wind power lost. 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.”
Mr Cunniffe said it was bad news for Irish consumers that electricity prices continue to rise. 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.
Wind Energy Ireland said that Cork wind farms led the war 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.
The amount of electricity generated by our wind farms last year (13,258 GWh) was more than one and a half times the total consumption of all residential customers.
“Our members can be proud of the role Irish wind farms played last year in supporting electricity consumers and reducing our carbon emissions,” Mr Cunniffe said.
“Ireland now has just over 5,000 MW of onshore wind energy, over halfway to the Climate Action Plan target of 9,000 MW 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.”
Noel 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.”
2024 was a record year for wind power in the UK, where the government wants less than 5 per cent of electricity to come from polluting fossil fuels by 2030.
According to newly released National Energy System Operator (Neso) statistics, wind power was the largest source of energy generation for the first time ever in the UK in 2024.
Wind power accounted for 30 per cent of all electricity generation, the highest percentage, followed by nuclear (14%), solar (5%) and hydro (2%).
However, it comes amid a fall in European wind stocks this week after President Donald Trump’s campaign promises to stop the construction of new wind turbines in the US.
“We’re going to try and have a policy where no windmills are being built,” Trump told a news conference on Tuesday.
The US president elect has said that wind turbines lack public support, and are too costly, as well as requiring subsidies. He has also criticised the energy source as harmful to the environment and whales.
He has singled out a particular 200 wind turbine project which was planned off the coast of New Jersey, with the projects of other companies also under threat.
“They litter our country,” Trump said. “Nobody wants them and they are very expensive.”
“They’re rusting and rotting. Half of them weren’t spinning and the ones that were, were going so slow … It’s not too windy, but you know, they’re going, like, slow. The other ones were just dead.”
“It’s horrible … It’s just too expensive, it doesn’t work,” he said at a rally before his election.
Mr Trump previously fought against an offshore wind project within view of his golf course in Aberdeen Scotland in 2019, ultimately losing an appeal to the UK Supreme Court over the granting of consent to develop the wind farm close to his resort.
Following Mr Trump’s remarks this week, Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas Wind Systems and Danish wind developer Orsted saw stocks fall by about 7 per cent on Wednesday.