, the island of Ireland had 5,585 MW of installed wind power capacity, with 4,309 MW in the Republic of Ireland. In 2020, wind provided over 86% of Ireland's renewable electricity and generated 36.3% of Ireland's electricity demand, one of the highest percentages globally. In 2023, Wind Energy Ireland confirmed that wind farms provided 35 per cent of Ireland and Northern Ireland's electricity in 2023, totalling a record breaking 13,725 gigawatt-hours (GWh). Ireland has over 300 wind farms, mostly onshore. A Public Service Obligation subsidy supports renewable energy and wind power development, driven by concerns over energy, security, and climate change mitigation.
Capacity Growth
Eddie O'Connor, then CEO of the semi-state owned peat harvesting company, Bord na Móna, commissioned the country's first "commercial wind farm" in a cutaway peat bog in County Mayo in 1992. Wind power deployment in the Republic of Ireland began slowly during the 1990s but has accelerated in the 2000s. Whilst annual wind capacity growth has been variable, it has shown an increasing trend (Figure 1). Wind power has provided a steadily increasing share of electricity, from 4% (1,874 GWh) in 2005, to 28% in 2018 (10,195 GWh) (Figure 2). In the first two months of 2020, wind provided 49% of electricity demand, and a peak recorded output from wind power of 4,471 MW was delivered on 12 February 2021. Wind is now the second largest source of electricity generation after natural gas, which accounted for 52% of electricity generated in 2018.
Drivers of wind power expansion Concerns over energy security (Ireland has an estimated 15.4m tonnes of coal reserves, peat bogs, offshore oil and gas fields, and has extensive wind resources), climate change mitigation policies, and compliance with EU Directives for market liberalization, have all shaped wind power development in Ireland.
In the Directive 2001/77/EC, otherwise known as the RES-E Directive, the European Union stated a goal to have 22% of the total energy consumed by member states to be produced from renewable energy resources by 2010. As a result, Ireland, in a report titled "Policy Consideration for Renewable Electricity to 2010", made the commitment to have 4% of its total energy consumption come from renewable energy resources by 2002 and 13.2% by 2010. The Department of Communications Marine and Natural Resources (DCMNR) founded the Renewable Energy Group (REG) which established the short-term analysis group (STAG) to investigate a means of accomplishing this goal. To meet the 2010 target of 13.2%, 1,432 MW of electricity will need to be generated from renewable resources with 1,100 MW being generated from wind resources both onshore and offshore.
State financial support State financial support for the national electricity sector, and particular technologies, has been influenced by a slow move towards liberalization, and concerns for energy security and climate change mitigation. Ireland uses an industry subsidy known as the Public Service Obligation (PSO) to support the generation of electricity from sustainable, renewable and indigenous sources, including wind. The PSO levy is charged to all electricity customers. As of April 2020, for residential consumers, the current PSO levy is €38.68 per year inclusive of value-added tax (VAT), and is displayed on the typical two-monthly electricity bill as €5.68 (€2.84 × 2) + 13.5% VAT.
The PSO levy funds the government's main mechanisms to support the generation of electricity from sustainable, renewable and indigenous sources. These mechanisms have shifted from the initial use of competitive auctions in the late 1990s, to a renewable energy feed-in tariff (REFiT) from 2006 to 2015, and back to a new renewable energy auction scheme as of 2020. Ireland's initial use of competitive auction from 1996 failed to support the intended growth in wind development. Between 2006 and 2015, the government supported a REFiT, secured for 15 years. The 2020 REFiT reference price for large wind (>5 MW) is €70.98 /MWh and for small wind (<5 MW) is €73.47/MWh. In June 2020, Ireland will run its first competitive renewable energy auction under the government's new Renewable Energy Support Scheme (RESS-1). RESS-1 support is structured as a two-way floating feed-in premium (FIP), roughly the difference between the 'strike price' set in the successful auction bid and the 'market reference price'. When costs of electricity suppliers exceed market revenues a Support Payment will be due to the supplier, and when market revenues exceed costs a Difference Payment will be due from the supplier. An economic analysis of the financial cost of different RESS options, estimated that a least cost auction with floating FIP mechanism would cost a domestic consumer €0.79 per month by 2030 (at 2017 prices). This is significantly less than the current PSO levy rate to fund REFiT costs.
Offshore wind power
The Arklow Bank Wind Park, located 10 km off the coast of Arklow on the Arklow Bank in the Irish Sea, is Ireland's only offshore wind farm. The wind farm is owned and built by GE Energy and was co-developed by Airtricity and GE Energy. The site has 7 GE Energy 3.6 MW turbines that generate a total of 25 MW. The development of the site was originally divided into two phases with the first phase being the current installation of 7 turbines. The second phase was a partnership between Airtricity and Acciona Energy. Acciona Energy had an option to buy the project after the facility is completed. The wind farm was planned to expand to 520 MW of power. However, Phase 2 was cancelled in 2007.
Although the waters off the Atlantic coast of Ireland have higher winds, sites along the eastern coast, such as Arklow, have been chosen for their shallower waters, with depths of 20m or less.
In Belfast, the harbor industry is being redeveloped as a hub for offshore wind farm construction, at a cost of about £50m. The work will create 150 jobs in construction, as well as requiring about 1 million tonnes of stone from local quarries, which will create hundreds more jobs. "It is the first dedicated harbor upgrade for offshore wind".
In 2023, an offshore wind auction approved four projects totaling 3 GW. The Codling project won first approval for a power price around €90/MWh by 2027.
Current trends
Grid connections are currently allocated on a 'first come, first served' basis through the Gate 3 procedures. Upon reviewing the Gate 3 queue, it was noted that several large onshore and offshore wind projects are positioned lower in the queue, meaning they will likely be offered grid connections towards the end of the anticipated 18-month processing period, which began in December 2009.
Under normal circumstances, planning permission expires after 5 years. However, Section 41 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 allows for an extended period. It is currently common to apply for and obtain a 10-year permission for wind energy developments. Section 42 of the same Act initially permitted a 5-year extension of the "appropriate period," provided that substantial works were carried out. This led to issues, as the term "substantial works" was not clearly defined, resulting in varied interpretations among planning authorities. This problem was addressed by the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2010, which introduced Section 28, allowing a one-off extension of up to 5 years if "there were considerations of a commercial, economic, or technical nature beyond the control of the applicant, which substantially militated against either the commencement of development or the carrying out of substantial works pursuant to the planning permission."
The fourth issue regarding the generation of wind power is the Renewable Energy Feed-in Tariff, or REFIT. REFIT's goal is to promote the development of renewable energy sources. For wind power production, the current limit to the tariff is 1,450 MW. However, applications currently being processed for grid connections exceed the limit by almost 1,500 MW for a total for nearly 3,000 MW. Since the limit is 1,450 MW, many of the applications for grid connections are most likely not eligible for the tariff.
5 largest onshore wind farms
Wind FarmCapacity (MW)Turbine VendorSize (MW)OperatorCompletedCounty Oweninny 192 60 Siemens Gamesa Enercon SWT-3.2–113 N117/3600 3.2 3.6 ESB Bord na Móna 2023 Mayo Galway Wind Park 174 58 Siemens Gamesa SWT-3.0–101 3.0 SSE Renewables & Coillte 2017 Galway Grousemount 114 38 Siemens Gamesa SWT-3.2–108 SWT-2.3–93 3.2 2.3 ESB 2020 Kerry Gusta Gaoithe 101 22 Nordex N149 4.0 5.0 Invis Energy 2023 Galway Knockacummer 100 40 Nordex N90 2.5 Greencoat Renewables 2013 Cork
Controversy Economy In 2011, the 120-member Irish Academy of Engineering described wind as "an extremely expensive way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions when compared to other alternatives" like conservation, nuclear energy or the Corrib gas project and Liquified Gas tanker imports at Shannon, concluding that the suggestion of 40% grid penetration by wind, is "unrealistic".Energy Policy and Economic Recovery 2010–2015 , page 5. Irish Academy of Engineering, 2011. Archive In 2020, grid penetration had hit 36.3% and was still increasing but slowly. By contrast, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland said in 2014 that wind power cost the same as gas power.SPECIAL REPORT: A look at the wind energy debate Monday, 7 April 2014, By Claire O'Sullivan Irish Examiner Archive In 2020 the Irish Times reported that the cost of onshore wind energy had dropped over the last 20 years but that regulation on noise and height of turbines made Irish wind energy more expensive than elsewhere.
Peatlands and bog landslides Building wind turbines and access roads on top of peatland results in the drainage and then eventual oxidation of some of the peat. The turbines represent a minor impact,Richard Lindsay. Peat bogs and carbon, page 164. University of East London, 14 June 2010 provided that the entire wind farm area is not drained, potentially emitting more carbon dioxide (CO2) than the turbines would save.Richard Lindsay. Wind farms and blanket peat, page 70, 79–87, 111. University of East London, 2004 Biochemist Mike Hall said in 2009; "wind farms (built on peat bogs) may eventually emit more carbon than an equivalent coal-fired power station" if drained.
A 2014 report for the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, which has similar peatland, notes that building wind turbines on peatland could release considerable carbon dioxide from the peat, weaken flood control, and spoil water quality: "The potential knock-on effects of using the peatland resource for wind turbines are considerable and it is arguable that the impacts on this facet of biodiversity will have the most noticeable and greatest financial implications for Northern Ireland."David Tosh, W. Ian Montgomery & Neil Reid A review of the impacts of onshore wind energy development on biodiversity , Northern Ireland Environment Agency, Research and Development Series 14/02, 2014, p.54
The Irish Peatland Conservation Council maintains a database on incidents where building wind turbines (and wind farms) on or near peatland caused devastating landslides, called "bog bursts"/"peat flows". These accelerate the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
In October 2003, the building of a wind farm in County Galway caused the Derrybrien landslide, an almost 2.5 km long, 450,000 m3 bog landslide, polluting a nearby lake and killing 50,000 fish. The lake was also the source of the town of Gort's drinking water. If all carbon in the slide is being released, it represents 7–15 months of production from the wind farm in avoided carbon dioxide from fossil power. In 2004, engineering companies were convicted of being responsible for the pollution, while the wind farm company was acquitted. The Irish government was convicted in 2008 of poor oversight.