Imagine having a huge supply of clean, free water in the middle of a drought, but only being able to fill a few small buckets at a time because the pipes are too small. This is the challenge we face with wind energy: an abundant, renewable resource held back by an electricity grid that wasn’t built to handle it.
Last year our wind farms supplied a third of our total power consumption. But we have the capacity to achieve far more. Wind energy could provide enough electricity to exceed our domestic demand by 2030.
By 2050 Ireland could supply as much as 2.5 per cent of total European electricity demand, becoming a net exporter of clean energy. This scenario would see 20,000 new jobs in the wind energy sector, initially in installation and later in operations and maintenance.
Our wind farms generate clean electricity across the country and rely on the grid to feed it into homes and businesses. But last year 14 per cent of this wind energy production was wasted because the grid was not strong enough to carry it. When the grid is under pressure, wind farms must be shut down and replaced with more expensive fossil fuels, which cost us €1 million an hour to import. This cost is reflected in our energy bills.
Despite Ireland’s potential in wind energy, our wastage is higher than other European countries because we lack their extensive grid infrastructure and interconnection. It’s like having a Bugatti and trying to race it on a boreen.
This wastage creates a twofold cost for consumers. Wind farms have saved us almost €1 billion over the past 25 years. This is an incredible sum of money, but it could be higher: 14 per cent wasted wind power translates to about €41.4 million in lost savings to consumers in 2024 alone.
The national targets of 9GW of onshore wind energy and at least 5GW of offshore wind by 2030, as well as being carbon neutral by 2050, assume an ever-upward trajectory for the amount of wind energy connected to the Irish grid. This will require huge investment in the transmission network.
The Government’s initial commitment to spend €750 million to upgrade our grid infrastructure is hugely welcome. We must also begin to deliver the State-led plan to develop the offshore grids needed to harness our maritime wind resource.
However, reaching these targets will require more than investment. The slowness of the Irish planning permission process, permitting bottlenecks, and supply chain difficulties all hinder progress in the sector. These challenges – which are shared by many other European countries – are reflective of the wider crisis of competitiveness in the EU.
Addressing this crisis will be a significant driving force behind the next five years of policy-making in Brussels. The European Commission has published its Clean Industrial Deal, a roadmap to enhance European competitiveness through the transition to green energy. I and my colleagues in the European Parliament will work with the commission to ensure that this transition supports workers whose livelihoods are at risk. This means the EU must support reskilling opportunities, invest in strategic sectors impacted by the green transition and facilitate public-private partnerships.
This strategy, alongside other European legislation on clean energy, has the potential to support the Irish Government in driving the wind energy sector forward. Europe’s competitiveness crisis is deeply intertwined with energy prices, and Ireland’s electricity costs, the highest in the EU, place our industry at a distinct disadvantage.
The EU, with Ireland’s input, has an opportunity to redesign the European energy market
Wind energy is an opportunity to create a thriving industry that can both charge our economy and lower energy bills.
Key new interconnector projects, such as the privately financed Greenlink Interconnector and the Celtic Interconnector to France, will deliver huge benefits. They will make our grid more flexible and efficient as excess power can be exported to a neighbouring network. This also contributes to Irish and European competitiveness, as well as security of supply.
There are a number of actions we must take domestically to support the wind-energy sector. First the Irish Government should transpose the Revised Renewable Energy Directive as soon as possible. This would provide for the deployment of renewable energy in Ireland by simplifying and accelerating the permit-granting procedure for renewable energy projects.
Second, the slowness of the Irish planning permission process continues to hinder the development of the wind sector. The Planning and Development Act must be swiftly implemented. This will offer investors the necessary security to support renewable energy projects and foster better co-ordination at the local and national levels.
Third, as we approach the 2026 Irish presidency of the Council of the EU, there will probably be significant consideration of how the electricity market can work better for consumers. The EU, with Ireland’s input, has an opportunity to redesign the European energy market to increase EU competitiveness while delivering prosperity and sustainability.
Finally, we need a public awareness campaign to achieve public acceptance of renewable energy infrastructure and the inevitable disruptions associated with its construction. Short-term inconveniences such as road closures for underground cabling and the potential presence of overhead lines must be weighed against the long-term benefits: cleaner air, reduced pollution and decreased reliance on fossil fuels supplied by unreliable and expensive sources.
In a post-fossil fuel world, our wind-rich coasts are the water supply in a drought. We must invest in their potential to ensure a thriving, sustainable future.
Barry Andrews is an Irish MEP
