Written answers
Tuesday, 29 March 2011
Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources
Alternative Energy Projects
10:00 pm
Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 138: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the position regarding wind energy (details supplied). [5751/11]
Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Ireland has progressively increased consumption of electricity from renewable sources - from 4.3% in 2003 to 13.4% in 2010. This increase came primarily from the development of onshore wind resources.
Ireland's National Renewable Energy Action Plan, NREAP, (available on the Department's website) sets out how Ireland's binding national target under the EU Renewable Energy Directive will be met. The binding 16% target will be achieved by 10% of energy consumption in transport, 12% of heat consumption and around 40% of our electricity consumption from renewable sources by 2020. In the electricity sector, 36% of our consumption i.e. 4649 megawatts (MW), will be from wind by 2020. This is proportionately the highest contribution from wind among all the EU Member States.
There are currently 1776 MW of installed generating plant harnessing alternative energy technologies connected to the Irish national grid. The total number of wind farms connected is approximately 122 and this represents a generation capacity of about 1500 MW. Hydropower contributes about 238 MW of generation capacity and there is 38 MW of biomass, mainly landfill gas. There are approximately 1150 MW of wind farms that are currently contracted to connect to the grid (i.e. they have received and signed a Connection Offer) in the coming years. There are an additional 150 wind farms that have received or are due to receive, a connection offer under the Gate 3 project round of project approvals. EirGrid (the transmission system operator) and ESB networks are investing in the distribution and transmission systems to underpin the development of Ireland's wind resource.
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