Record-breaking April for Irish wind farms
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Wind energy provided a record-breaking amount of the country’s electricity last month, as Wind Energy Ireland says wind farms are helping to push down wholesale electricity prices.
Wind Energy Ireland, the representative body for the Irish wind industry, has reported that wind energy provided 35% of the country’s electricity in April, and for the first four months of the year has met 38% of power demand.
The record-breaking amount of electricity produced by wind energy last month was up 8% against April 2022, while the share of demand met rose from 32%.
The average wholesale price of electricity fell in April, for the fourth straight month, to €125.57. This is the lowest the average monthly price has been since June 2021, but still significantly above average prices before the fossil-fuel energy crisis began.
Wind Energy Ireland notes that prices fell even further last month on days with the most wind power, when the average cost of a megawatt-hour of electricity was €108.01.
Noel Cunniffe, CEO of Wind Energy Ireland, said that Ireland’s wind farms are “reducing our reliance on imported fossil fuels, supporting Irish jobs and helping to push down wholesale electricity prices while cutting the carbon emissions which are fuelling the climate emergency”.
“The continued fall in wholesale electricity prices is welcome news and we hope that consumers will soon see the benefit. However, families and businesses will remain at risk while we remain dependent on imported fossil fuels. If we have a cold winter and if China returns aggressively to the LNG market we will be exposed again to record electricity prices,” he said.
“The quicker we can build wind farms, and the faster we can reinforce the electricity grid, the sooner we can rely on Irish renewable energy to provide our electricity,” he added.
This week saw the closure of the first ever auction for offshore wind energy, which is expected to provide a route to market for up to 2.5GW of offshore renewable energy to the Irish grid, and the publication of the terms and conditions for the next onshore renewables auction.
Mr Cunniffe welcomed the clear timetable for onshore renewable energy auctions, but said it must be ensured that “as many projects as possible are competing against each other to provide power at the best price”.
He said that they are only expecting a small number of wind projects to be competing in the next auction, as many are being delayed in the planning system.
“We will not achieve our Climate Action Plan targets, much less energy independence, with a planning system that is simply not fit for purpose. This year’s budget must prioritise proper resourcing for An Bord Pleanála, the National Parks & Wildlife Service, local authorities and key environmental stakeholders,” he said.
Wind Energy Ireland’s report is based on EirGrid’s SCADA data compiled by MullanGrid, and on market data provided by ElectroRoute.