A report by the Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency has revealed that 47.4% of the nation’s electricity consumption was provided by renewables between October 2022 and September 2023.
The report showed that renewables generated 3,487GWh of Northern Ireland’s electricity, representing a 1.6% decrease on the previous 12 month period (October 2021 to September 2022), though it has generally been increasing over the past decade.
Figure 1: Renewable electricity generation is an increasing proportion of overall electricity consumption in Northern Ireland
Wind held a steady majority producing 83.8% (2,922GWh) of Northern Ireland’s renewable electricity, in the recent 12 month period, followed by biogas at 6.2% (218GWh). Solar produced 3.5% of Northern Ireland’s total renewable generation at 120GWh.
Research from Solar Media Market Research revealed that Northern Ireland has 82 onshore wind sites with 586 turbines, amounting to an installed capacity of 1.2GW to date.
The report also showed that renewable generation in Northern Ireland has increased from 1,202GWh for the 12 month period closing in September 2013, to 3,487GWh for the period ending in September 2023.
Figure 2: Indigenous renewable electricity generation as a percentage of electricity consumption in Northern Ireland
Total electricity consumption in Northern Ireland on the other hand has fallen from 8,160GWh between October 2012 to September 2013 to 7,357GWh for the 12 month period just passed, representing 9.8% decrease.
