Ireland: how to run an electricity system on high shares of wind energy
4 June 2025
Last week Wind Energy Ireland hosted its Offshore Wind Conference 2025. They launched a new action plan to accelerate offshore wind development in Ireland. Ireland is already a leader in onshore wind. And it is pioneering innovative solutions to strengthen the security and resilience of its power system.
Wind is 33% of Ireland’s electricity, second in Europe only to Denmark. Ireland’s 5 GW of onshore wind energy capacity support nearly 6,000 jobs. They are an important source of income for Irish municipalities and local communities.
Ireland’s electricity grid is not interconnected with the rest of the EU. The 700 MW Celtic Interconnector linking Ireland’s electricity grid to France is under construction and scheduled to be operational by 2027. Three other, smaller, interconnectors allow for electricity exchange with the UK.
Due to this limited interconnection, Ireland had to be more creative than other countries in managing an electricity system with high shares of variable renewables. They are one of the leading countries in grid and inertia management.
System integration – pioneering innovative solutions
Ireland continues to lead by example in managing high shares of wind while maintaining a stable and secure grid. Ten years ago system operation was capped at maximum 50% of non-synchronous generation. That’s electricity generation that is not directly synchronised with the electrical grid’s frequency.
Generators of traditional power plants typically rotate in sync with the grid’s frequency. Wind and solar, in contrast, are forms of non-synchronous generation. They generate electricity through electronic systems that do not directly match the grid’s frequency because they are not mechanically linked to it.
Ireland has already increased its cap on this non-synchronous generation to 75%. And a trial run later this year or early next year will explore pushing the boundaries even further – up to 80%.
EirGrid, Ireland’s transmission system operator, has created one of the most advanced support systems for the power grid in Europe through its DS3 programme. This programme rewards technologies that help keep the grid stable by providing fast-frequency response, system strength, and inertia — all of which are especially important when using lots of renewable energy. By using devices called synchronous condensers, EirGrid has reduced the need to keep traditional power plants running just to stabilise the grid. This makes it easier to use more renewable electricity.
The Irish electricity market design offers a blueprint for other countries aiming to operate power systems with low or near-zero synchronous generation.
How to unlock offshore wind in Irish waters?
Almost all of Ireland’s wind energy comes from onshore wind turbines. Today Ireland only has one small 25 MW offshore wind farm. It was commissioned in 2004 and is nearing the end of its operational life.
But this is set to change. The Irish Government aims to increase offshore wind capacity to 5 GW by 2030, 20 GW by 2040 and 37 GW by 2050. Achieving Ireland’s 2050 offshore wind targets could be worth at least €38bn to the Irish economy.
In 2023 Ireland awarded 3.1 GW of offshore wind capacity to four projects, now in planning, under its first offshore wind auction (ORESS 1). While one of those projects has since pulled out two more projects, with more than 1 GW of capacity, are already in the planning system and aiming to get a route-to-market through a corporate power purchase agreement.
The first of the four new sites off the south coast identified by the Irish Government for new wind farms as part of a plan-led approach will be auctioned in November with an expected capacity of 900 MW.
Work has started on a new national map to identify locations where future wind farms can be developed. It will involve extensive data-gathering and public consultation. It is due to be completed by the end of 2027.
However, Ireland is still set to miss its 2030 target. Offshore wind development is held back by various permitting delays and policy uncertainty. On top of that Ireland does not yet have the port infrastructure it will need. WindEurope expects Ireland to only have around 1 GW of offshore operational wind by the end of the decade.
At the conference Wind Energy Ireland launched a new Action Plan to restore confidence in Ireland’s ability to build a competitive, sustainable and robust offshore wind industry. It sets out detailed recommendations around four priorities:
- Delivering on Ireland’s ORESS 1 projects;
- Maximising the four proposed sites in the South Coast Designated Maritime Area Plan (DMAP);
- Providing a long-term pipeline of projects for both fixed and floating offshore wind;
- Investing in vital supporting infrastructure such as ports and grids.
The Action Plan outlines concrete next steps and identifies the relevant authorities to be included in each of those steps.
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