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Last month, Cork pushed Kerry off the top spot as Ireland’s leading county for wind energy for the first time since WEI started publishing data at a county level.
Wind farms provided more than a third of Ireland’s electricity in the first half of this year, a new report shows.
Published by Wind Energy Ireland today (8 July), the report shows that energy generated by wind power provided 34pc of Irish electricity with last month being the third highest on record for June at 771GWh.
The report also shows that Kerry regained the top spot from Cork as Ireland’s leading county for wind energy last month, accounting for 12pc of Ireland’s wind power at 90GWh. Galway, Donegal and Tipperary were in the top five.
Cork pushed Kerry off the top spot last month for the first time since Wind Energy Ireland started publishing data at a county level.
Overall, wind energy met 25pc of electricity demand in Ireland last month – up 5pc from June 2023. Meanwhile, solar power and other renewables provided an additional 8pc of Irish electricity.
“The first half of the year has been strong for Irish wind farms, which have supplied just over a third of our electricity so far this year. That is clean electricity produced in Ireland to power our homes and businesses while cutting our carbon emissions,” Noel Cunniffe, CEO of Wind Energy Ireland.
“It is also really positive to see the strong performance of solar energy and other renewables last month as part of our renewable energy mix. Every time a wind turbine or solar panel is generating electricity it is reducing our reliance on imported fossil fuels, helping to push down wholesale electricity prices and increasing our supply of clean energy to local communities.”
The news comes in the context of an escalating climate crisis, where June was the 13th month in a row to break temperature records, indicating that a switch to renewable energy has never been more urgent. Earlier in March, wind energy supplied a record 43pc of Irish electricity.
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