Note: This article was updated May 2 2024 to incorporate revised biomass figures reflecting Edenderry's conversion to biomass and again July 17 2024 to incorporate adjusted solar SCADA data from Eirgrid.
Electricity from renewable generation and discharging storage met 50.1% of Ireland’s (all-island) electricity demand during March 2024:
- 42.8% wind
- 3.1% hydro
- 2.3% biomass/waste
- 1.2% solar
- 0.7% discharging pumped storage
- 0.1% discharging batteries
Exhibit 1: All-island demand met by different sources, March 2024
Wind generation totaled 1542GWh, an all-time record for March. The previous record holder was 2020 and wind generation in March 2024 was around 10% higher than that of 2020, making the past month a clear winner. However, it’s worth pointing out the wind over demand ratio in March 2024 is only slightly higher than March 2020, as electricity demand increased.
Exhibit 2: March wind generation vs. demand, 2014-2024
For the first time, the share of renewables in domestic generation has been higher than that of fossil fuels two months in a row (February and March 2024).
During 2023, renewable generation, including wind, solar, hydro, biomass, and waste, made up 43.5% of total generation in Ireland, while fossil fuels (mostly gas) made up 55.2%. December was the only month in 2023 with renewables higher than fossil fuels. Since the start of 2024, renewables made up 52.9% of total generation in February and 54% in March, passing the 50% mark over two consecutive months for the first time.
Exhibit 3: All-island monthly generation mix, April 2023 – March 2024
Exhibit 4: All-island generation mix and demand in March 2024
Wind and solar output reached record levels in March: 4629MW of wind on March 4 and 481MW of solar on March 31.
In addition to being the best March yet for total wind generation, on 4 March 2024, peak wind output reached 4629MW at 11:15am, equalling the all-time record set in December 2023. And despite a rainy March, peak solar output also reached record levels higher than last summer: 481MW on 31 March at 1pm, meeting 10.6% of demand then. As spring arrives and days get longer, we expect to see solar play an even bigger role, as more capacity has come online since last summer.
Exhibit 5: All-island peak wind output on 4 March 2024 at 11:15am
While we are delighted to see wind output reaching a record high again, this occasion has once again brought our attention to inconsistencies in publicly available grid data:
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We use the wind data from Eirgrid's Smart Grid Dashboard which is based on average 15-minute SCADA readings. Based on this dataset, all-island wind output reached 4629MW on 6 December 2023, and again on 4 March 2024. The previous record occurred on 5 February 2022 at 4585MW.
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There seems to be a bug in the Smart Grid Dashboard whereby the maximum wind output of all time is listed as 4610MW on 5 February 2022 at 13:11. Additionally, a social media post from EirGrid recounting the record-breaking year of 2023 states that the wind record in 2023 was 4652.86MW.
It's possible that the record figures on the Smart Grid Dashboard and this social media post come from more granular SCADA readings which when averaged over 15 minutes yields the lower, public figures. However, we haven't been able to verify this. Since the average 15-minute SCADA readings are published regularly and consistently, we will continue to rely on this dataset when identifying wind output records.
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