Renewable energy: Wind power 'saved Northern Ireland 拢243m last year'

Image source, Ashley Cooper/ Getty Images

Image caption, Northern Ireland has a legally-binding target of generating 80% of electricity consumption from renewable sources by 2030
  • Author, Louise Cullen
  • Role, 大象传媒 NI agriculture and environment correspondent

Locally generated wind power meant Northern Ireland saved 拢243m in 2023.

The figures are from Wind Energy Ireland's annual report and a report by energy specialists Baringa.

They found that without wind energy, an additional 拢176m would have had to be spent on gas to generate power, with an additional almost 拢70m on carbon credits to burn it.

That reduced emissions by about 0.9m tonnes, equivalent to the amount of carbon produced by 200,000 homes.

Renewable energy, predominantly wind, accounts for about half of the power generated in Northern Ireland.

Specialists in the sector told a Commons committee this week that development was being hampered by a number of barriers.

The latest figures from Stormont's Department for the Economy show 47.4% of total electricity consumption in Northern Ireland was generated from renewable sources in the year to September 2023.

Of this, 83.8% was generated by wind.

The director of RenewableNI, Steven Agnew, said the reduction in reliance on fossil fuels was due to investment in the previous decade, but that that had stalled because of planning issues and grid development.

He called for a taskforce to be established urgently to get Northern Ireland back on track to meet its target of generating 80% electricity consumption from renewable energy by 2030.