Renewables could meet 42% Irish energy needs

Irish Wind Energy Association (IWEA) chief executive officer Dr Michael Walsh told the All-Island Wind Energy Conference said the challenge ahead was to unlock the capacity of the island’s renewable assets.

He cited a report from earlier this year which suggested 42% of the island’s needs could be met from renewables but added that he thought wind could take that figure higher.

Tapping all those sources would require an effort from the energy community, governments and regulators he said.

“This demands practical visible action, including investment in network connectivity allowing wind and other renewable energy sources to connect to the all island grid, and a radical re-examination of how we manage energy systems to accommodate and exploit ever increasing amounts of renewable power,” the Irish Times reports him as saying.

Two wind farms in Cork and Kerry have delivered 61 megawatts of electricity to the national grid for renewable company Energia.