Irish wind farms provided 35% of the country’s electricity last month, according to figures from Wind Energy Ireland.
This is the best ever performance by wind farms for the month of April.
The amount of electricity produced by wind energy last month was up 8% against April 2022 while the share of demand met rose from 32% to 35% as demand for power continued to rise.
Wind energy has met 38% of the country’s power demand for the first four months of 2023.
Electricity
The data published today (Thursday, May 4) shows that the average wholesale price of electricity fell in April, for the fourth straight month, to €125.57/MWh.
This is the lowest the average monthly price has been since June 2021, but is still significantly above average prices before the current energy crisis began.
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, rising to €129.29 on days when we had to rely almost entirely on fossil-fuels.
Noel Cunniffe, CEO of Wind Energy Ireland, said: “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-fuel,” he said.
“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.
“We know we can make an even bigger difference if we can connect more wind farms and this week saw significant progress with the closure of our first ever auction for offshore wind energy and the publication of the terms and conditions for the next onshore renewables auction,” he said.
Cunniffe noted that the current planning system is delaying the development of more wind energy projects.
“This year’s budget must prioritise proper resourcing for An Bord Pleanála, the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), local authorities and key environmental stakeholders,” he said.