Irish wind farms generated around one third of the island’s electricity in 2025, according to Wind Energy Ireland’s annual wind energy report.
The industry body said installed onshore wind capacity in the Republic surpassed 5,000MW last year after 150MW of new projects came online. Total wind generation reached about 13,634GWh in 2025, with Kerry the highest-producing county, followed by Cork and Galway.
Wind provided 39% of electricity in December and helped reduce wholesale power prices, with average prices falling from €136.99/MWh in December 2024 to €108.48/MWh last month, Wind Energy Ireland said.
“Our members can be proud of the role Irish wind farms played last year in supporting electricity consumers and reducing our carbon emissions,” said Wind Energy Ireland chief executive Noel Cunniffe.
“Ireland now has over 5,000MW of onshore wind energy with a further 450MW in construction and 2,500MW of projects with planning permission,” he added.
Cunniffe said expanding wind generation, strengthening the grid, adding storage and electrifying the economy could help create an “Irish electrostate” powered by secure, clean energy.
However, the report highlighted growing levels of dispatch-down, with EirGrid data showing that 13% of wind energy did not reach consumers in 2025 due to grid constraints. Average dispatch-down has increased by just over 1% per year since 2016, leading to greater reliance on imported fossil fuels.
“In 2025, 13% of Ireland’s cheapest electricity was wasted because our existing grid was simply not strong enough to carry all the power that our wind farms produced to Irish homes and businesses,” Cunniffe said.
“Making the electricity grid strong enough to accommodate increasing volumes of affordable energy is essential.”
He added that investment in storage and continued political support for grid upgrades by EirGrid and ESB Networks will be critical in 2026.
December delivered the second-highest monthly wind generation on record at 1,523GWh, while renewables accounted for 43% of total electricity supply when solar and other sources were included.
Wholesale electricity prices averaged €76.41/MWh on the windiest days in December but rose to €148.55/MWh during periods dominated by fossil fuel generation, the report showed.
