Wind supplied a record amount of Ireland’s electricity generating power in October, according to figures published on Thursday by industry group Wind Energy Ireland.
Irish wind farms were responsible for 47 per cent of all generation power last month, making it the primary source of electricity in the State over the month.
The strong October contribution means that wind energy has now supplied a third of all electricity this year.
It also contributed to a dramatic fall in wholesale energy prices, bringing them down to a 14-month low. The average wholesale electricity price slumped 52 per cent to €136.27 per megawatt hour (MWh) in October from €283.25 the previous month. Wind Energy Ireland said on the days when wind’s contribution to the grid was highest, the average price fell even further to €67.68.
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It was the sharpest monthly fall in prices since they started rising in summer 2021 on fears of a post-Covid supply squeeze, exacerbated by the subsequent invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Prices have now fallen for two months in succession from a high of nearly €400 per MWh in August.
Wind Energy Ireland said the fall in wholesale electricity prices was due to the combined effect of large volumes of wind energy on the system, reducing the need for gas, and a steep drop in European gas prices as unreasonably mild weather across the Continent saw demand subside.
But chief executive Noel Cunniffe said Irish consumers would be vulnerable to volatile electricity prices as long as the State continues to rely on fossil fuels for power generation.
“Irish electricity consumers are on the frontline of the current energy crisis. While the drop in prices last month is welcome, there is a long way to go before we see the impact on the consumers’ bills,” he said.
“Long-term electricity prices in the first half of next year are still very high, which reflects the belief in the market that the price of gas will rise again as the weather turns colder and European gas storage levels start to fall.”
Total electricity demand in October 2022 was 3,222 gigawatt hours (GWh) of power, according to EirGrid data, with wind generating 1,522 GWh of that. Demand was only about 1 per cent lower than in the same month last year despite calls for consumers and businesses to try to reduce demand.
A MWh of electricity is generally considered to be enough to power 1,000 homes for an hour. Wind Energy Ireland said a standard Irish household would use about 4.6 MWh of electricity a year.
