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Green Scene
Wind power generation hits 1200 MW Irish record
Power generation data from EirGrid confirmed that Ireland’s wind farms hit a new power output record in October of 1196MW at 7.45pm, which accounted for 30.87 percent of total generation at that time. Commenting on the achievement of this significant milestone in the growth of power generation from Irish wind farms, IWEA Chief Executive, Michael Walsh, said:
will need to harness renewable energy sources. This delivers major economic and energy security benefits, including much greater autonomy in setting our energy policies, moderating energy costs as fossil fuels become more expensive, meeting our climate change commitments and maximising sustainable jobs and exports to support Ireland’s economic renewal.”
Successfully incorporated
Ireland currently has 1,459MW of installed wind generation capacity across the Republic, with over 1,100MW of contracted genera-
"Ireland is leading the way in demonstrating that high levels of power generation from wind are achievable, which can then be successfully incorporated into our overall power supply mix. Already this year, wind power generation has, on a number of occasions, delivered over half of the electricity in Ireland.” Dr. Walsh added: “As the Irish wind sector grows, we are also developing the knowledge base and skills that the rest of the world
Pipeline of wind farm projects
tion and a further 3,900MW to receive grid connections in the next phase of the grid connection process known as “Gate 3”. Outside of the current connection process, a significant pipeline of wind farm projects exists with more than 11GW of wind energy projects awaiting grid connection. Michael Walsh said that the scale and depth of the wind resource available in Ireland meant that if we harness this resource, Ireland would become one of the world’s leading exporters of renewable power. He said: “In the simplest terms, the opportunity we face is that we should be exporting as much renewable energy in 2020 as we currently consume today. If planned generation capacity is met, we could export up to 5,000 MW of renewable power in ten years, equivalent to our total consumption in 2010. "This will create a €20 billion wind power sector with massive export potential.”
The Informer
Green shoots...
An tSlí Ghlas - The Green Way launched
Industry, academic institutions and local authorities have joined forces to develop Ireland’s first Green Economic Zone, An tSlí Ghlas - The Green Way. An tSlí Ghlas - The Green Way - which already has a number of enterprises and projects established - has been initiated by a powerful alliance of businesses, academic institutions and local authorities including Ballymun Regeneration, Dublin Airport Authority, Dublin City University, Dublin Institute of Technology, Fingal County Council, Dublin City Council and North Dublin Chamber. The goal of An tSlí Ghlas - The Green Way is to position Ireland as a centre of Cleantech innovation and enterprise which will link business to investors and develop trade partnerships with other major international green corridors such as the US East Bay Green Corridor Partnership and Lahti Cleantech Science Park in Finland. An tSlí Ghlas - The Green Way was conceived in response to the 2009 Report of the Government’s High-Level Action Group on Green Enterprise which stated
that “Ireland needs to develop one or more green zones in order to create an environment that can support the development of green enterprise and be used to market Ireland overseas”. Tony Boyle, Chairman of the Steering Committee for the An tSlí Ghlas - The Green Way said: “We wish to create an internationally recognised green economic zone and position Ireland as a leader in the world’s most exciting and rapidly growing sector. "The potential of this project, which builds on our existing assets and infrastructure, is that it can assist in the transformation of our economy.” Boyle added: “Many projects are already underway. Designated Wetlab space for Cleantech industries are at advanced planning stage, the DIT Dublin Energy Lab with Ballymun Regeneration Ltd is providing training and re-skilling of building trade workers for the clean tech industries. "DAA are regenerating the airport central area as a hub for Cleantech FDI. DAA have also just launched T2 which will obviously assist in connecting An tSlí Ghlas -The Green Way to emerging Cleantech centres in Europe, China, India and the U.S.