Stormy Week Sees Wind Energy Hit Record Generation
20 November, 2015
A blustery and wet week helped wind energy hit a new record this week meeting almost half (46 percent) of Ireland’s entire electricity demand on Wednesday (18th November) with renewable energy accounting for 42 percent of Ireland’s energy mix over the past seven days.
The peak for wind energy output was recorded at 17.45pm on Wednesday as commuters made their way home with energy production from the renewable energy source hitting 2035MW, enough energy to power over 1.3 million homes, according to figures published by EirGrid, who monitor electricity generation and usage.
Overall, since the beginning of 2015, wind energy has approximately 23 percent of Irish electricity demand.
Commenting on the new wind energy records, Kenneth Matthews, CEO of the Irish Wind Energy Association (IWEA) said:
“Although it has been a terribly stormy week, it has a very positive week for our environment with wind energy decreasing our consumption of harmful and expensive fossil fuels, further reducing our C02 emissions and reducing our reliance on foreign energy imports.
“Clean wind energy is delivering for Ireland, reducing our dependency on expensive foreign energy imports, promoting investment and jobs, and helping to protect our environment for future generations.”
Renewable energies, primarily wind, but including biomass and hydro, met approximately 33 percent of Ireland’s electricity demand for the month of October.
There are currently just under 200 wind farms operating in Ireland with the industry employing over 3,400 people nationwide.
Ends
For more information:
Robert Brown, ReputationInc
Tel: 01 412 0514
Email: rbrown@reputation-inc.com