The advantages of wind power in Ireland are increasing. 32.5 percent of Ireland’s electricity demand was provided by wind power in 2019. This is a 3.5 percent rise from the previous year. This news comes from the annual report issued by the Irish Wind Energy Association (IWEA).
According to the IWEA, this was a record share for the country, the second-highest in Europe and highest for onshore wind, which shows that the advantages of wind power could be beneficial to combating environmental issues.
Ireland’s wind-generated 9.497 TWh of power over the year. And, in February and December, it managed to provide more electricity than natural gas-based plants.
IWEA said that it connected 24 new wind farms in 2019. This would bring 463 MW of combined installed capacity, making 2019 the second-best year for new connections on record!
At the end of 2019, installed wind capacity in Ireland reached a total of 4,130 MW. IWEA highlighted the potential that Ireland has for more in terms of both onshore and offshore segments.
The biggest concern in the industry, however, is the practice known as dispatch down. This happens when a wind farm is told to either slow down production or shut down completely. This is something that tends to happen as a result of curtailment or there is a weak transmission system in some part of the country, making it unable to transport all of the wind-generated power.
Last year, 1,008 TWh of wind power was lost as a result of dispatch down. This output represents 7.7 per cent of the entire production and would have been enough to provide power to more than 200,000 homes.
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