Data from Irish grid operator EirGrid shows that renewable sources provided 40.4% of Ireland’s total electricity demand during October.
The majority of Ireland’s renewable electricity was generated by wind farms, which met 35% of Ireland’s electricity demand. Total wind generation during October amounted to 1,003GWh.
Grid-scale solar generated 52GWh electricity, well above the 32GWh of October 2023 and accounting for 1.8% of electricity in October. Diarmaid Gillespie, director of system operations at EirGrid, pointed out that “as recently as 2022”, Ireland had no solar on the transmission system at all.
Gas generation accounted for 42.5% of Irish electricity use during the month. The Irish government is targeting 80% of electricity generated from renewable sources by 2030.
To bring enough capacity online to meet that target, an infrastructural upgrade will also be necessary. Currently, Ireland’s grid can accommodate up to 75% of electricity from renewable sources at any one time, known as the system non-synchronous penetration (SNSP) limit.
Liam Ryan, chief transformation & technology officer at EirGrid, said the operator is doing “more system studies and assessments at the moment, aiming to do a trial later this year to bring our SNSP limit above 75%”.
EirGrid awards contracts for low-carbon inertia services
Yesterday (7 November), EirGrid announced that it had awarded four contracts for synchronous condensers to provide low carbon inertia services (LCIS) to the grid. The technology maintains stability on the grid while operating higher levels of renewable energy—inertia capabilities have typically been provided by large conventional generators.
The LCIS technology, which is expected to be delivered between 2027 and 2028, will replace fossil-fuelled generators. The contracting comes after EirGrid revealed earlier this year that it had reduced the minimum number of large conventional fossil-fuelled generators that must operate on Ireland’s electricity grid at any one time from five to four.
EirGrid ran a competitive procurement process and awarded contracts to Quarry Lane Stability in Country Sligo and Glencloosagh Energy in County Kerry, both of which are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Statkraft Ireland. In Galway, Buffy Letter was awarded a contract and Green Frog Power won the fourth, in County Wexford.
The contracts to build synchronous converters will see the firms provide synchronous inertia, reactive power support and short-circuit contribution without generating active power. These services will enable integration of more renewables into the system.
Ryan explained: “The availability of low-carbon inertia services is an important part of an extensive programme of work we’re undertaking to make the grid renewable ready, which will benefit the economy and local communities across Ireland.”
Achieving Ireland’s Climate Action Plan
Along with the revelation that renewables met almost as much of the country’s electricity demand as gas, the Irish government approved a second offshore wind auction.
Dubbed ‘Tonn Nua’, the site will be the state’s second offshore renewable energy auction to take place under the Offshore Renewable Energy Support Scheme (ORESS). Bidding is expected to take place in early 2025 and the project will procure 900MW.
The ORESS 1 auction, which took place in May 2023, procured over 3GW of capacity from four offshore wind projects at an average of €86.05/MWh (£72.39/MWh).
In the fourth round of the Renewable Energy Support Scheme (RESS) for onshore renewable electricity, approximately 1,334MW of onshore renewable electricity won support. Of that total, 960MW of solar PV and 374MW onshore wind were procured at an average auction price of €96.85 (£81.73) per MWh.
