Ireland’s Increased Wind Power and Related Energy Benchmarks

The installed capacity of wind turbines in Ireland increased from a value of 2250 MW in 2014 to 3318 MW in 2017, a 43% increase in the four years, supported by climate mitigation policies. The main aim of this study is to determine if the increase in wind turbine installed capacity is impacting efforts to reduce CO2 emissions. The study utilises a review methodology. The findings show that the steady rise in wind turbine installed capacity year-on-year is not reflected in the Irish CO2 g/kWh energy benchmark value. The benchmark value was 457 g CO2/kWh in 2014 and 437 g CO2/kWh in 2017, an improvement of just 5%. By the end of 2020, the installed capacity of wind generation reached 4307 MW (SEAI in Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, Energy in Ireland, 2021 Report, 2021), a 91% increase in installed capacity, compared to the 2014 value. The 2020 emission factor was 295.8 gCO2/kWh, a 65% decrease in emission factor value. There is no consistent correlation between the increase in wind turbine capacity and a corresponding reduction in CO2 emissions. Future research into the quality of the wind turbine power output is recommended, in particular, the variability aspect in the power output signal.