How wind power grew in Ireland
Ireland's first commercial wind farm, Bellacorick in County Mayo, was opened by Bord na Móna on 12 October 1992. It had 21 turbines and 6.45 MW. It was taken down between November 2025 and January 2026 to make way for a new phase of the Oweninny wind farm. Offshore, GE began building Arklow Bank, Ireland's first offshore wind park, in 2003.
The Alternative Energy Requirement was announced in 1994, and its first round awarded 73 MW to ten wind farms. Auctions under the RESS scheme followed from 2020. Rounds one to four, to 2024, contracted about 1.4 GW of wind and 3.8 GW of solar. One farm became a costly lesson. In 2019 the EU Court of Justice fined Ireland €5 million plus €15,000 a day because Derrybrien wind farm had been built without a prior environmental assessment. Its operator was controlled by the State.
The Republic had 5,094.9 MW of wind at the end of 2025. Wind generated 11.8 TWh there in 2025, about 40% of the electricity generated in the State. On the all-island grid, 13.4% of available wind energy was dispatched down in 2025, and local network limits caused 8.9 points of that. The national offshore framework of 2024 aims for 20 GW by 2040 and at least 37 GW by 2050.
Sources: Bord na Móna · GE · Kilkenny County Council · Wind Energy Ireland · Court of Justice of the European Union · EirGrid · Central Statistics Office · Windtech International
Where Ireland's power comes from, 2025
| Source | Share of electricity |
|---|---|
| Gas | 48.4% |
| Wind | 38.0% |
| Solar | 4.8% |
| Bioenergy | 3.3% |
| Other fossil fuels | 3.0% |
| Hydro | 2.1% |
| Coal | 0.4% |
Wind farms in Ireland
We track 252 wind farms in Ireland: 4.4 GW operating and 54.1 GW under construction, consented or planned, with 50.6 GW of it offshore. Each one's owners, turbines and status are in the Wind app.
Electricity data: Ember yearly electricity data (CC BY 4.0). Wind farms: national registers and Global Energy Monitor; see data sources.
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