Wednesday 3 November 2010

Grid operator blown away by wind power's record output

IT was a big moment for wind power. Last Thursday at 7.45pm, a new record was set for the amount of electricity produced by wind power.

National grid operator Eirgrid said yesterday 1,196 megawatts of electricity were generated -- enough to power 250,000 homes.

And using wind instead of fossil fuels prevented 600 tonnes of carbon dioxide, the primary cause of global warming, from being generated.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland also said it would have cost about €80,000 to produce an equivalent amount of power in a traditional gas-fired plant.

The Irish Wind Energy Association said yesterday that wind power generation had delivered over half of Ireland's electricity needs a number of times this year.

By 2020, the Government wants 40pc of all power to be produced from renewable sources, and Ireland was set to meet that target, chief executive Dr Michael Walsh said.

"Ireland is leading the way in demonstrating that high levels of power generation from wind are achievable," Dr Walsh said.

Paul Melia
Irish Independent
.ie
www.buckplanning

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