Wind generation was third highest on record in October

Wind generation in Ireland was the third highest on record for the month of October, according to new figures from Wind Energy Ireland.

The latest figures show that wind energy provided 35% of Ireland's electricity last month, while solar power and other renewables accounted for 4%.

It means that Irish wind farms have generated nearly a third of the country's electricity over the first ten months of the year.

However, Wind Energy Ireland said that despite 2023 being a record year for the amount of electricity produced by wind, the figure is expected to fall in 2024.

It said that this was partly due to wind energy being lost because the electricity grid was not strong enough to carry it.

When this happens, wind farms are instructed to reduce the amount of power they produce or shut down entirely which means using more fossil fuels.

While Irish wind farms performed well in October, this year is on track to be the worst on record for the amount of wind energy wasted, Justin Moran from Wind Energy Ireland said.

"Over the first nine months of the year, 14% of wind energy production was lost because of challenges with the transmission network," he said.

Prices on days with the most wind power saw the average cost of a megawatt-hour of electricity fall by 26%.

Kerry produced more wind power than any other county in October. It was closely followed by Cork, Mayo, Galway and Tipperary.

The figures also show that Kerry, Cork and Mayo produced over a quarter of Ireland's wind power last month.

Mr Moran said that counties like Kerry were playing an "enormous part in reducing Ireland's carbon emissions by over 4 million tonnes a year".