Third best October on record for Irish wind farms

19 November 2025

Wind generation in Ireland was the third highest on record for an October month, according to Wind Energy Ireland (WEI), which today published its monthly wind energy report.

Wind farms provided 36 per cent of the country’s electricity last month while solar energy and other renewables provided an additional five per cent for a total renewable share of 41 per cent.

The average wholesale price of electricity in October was €100.70 per megawatt-hour (MWh), down from €123.45 per MWh during the same month last year.

The latest figures show that wind power generation in October 2025 totalled around 1,229 gigawatt-hours (GWh), with Kerry maintaining its position as Ireland’s top county for wind energy production (156 GWh). It was followed by Cork (144 GWh), Galway (84 GWh) and Derry (83 GWh). Tipperary narrowly edged out Mayo to secure the final spot in the top five, generating 80 GWh.

Noel Cunniffe, CEO of Wind Energy Ireland, said: “We are fortunate in Ireland to have natural resources like wind that can generate more affordable, clean electricity to power our local communities.

“It is great to see that renewables once again provided over 40 per cent of the country’s electricity last month with wind farms accounting for the vast majority of that power.

“Rather than importing hundreds of millions of euros of gas, Irish wind farms ensure money stays where it belongs, at home, supporting Irish workers and businesses.”

Price of electricity

Prices on days with the most wind power saw the average cost of a megawatt-hour of electricity fall to €55.84 per megawatt hour and more than double to €137.98 on days when we relied almost entirely on fossil fuels.

Noel Cunniffe added: “Whenever a wind turbine generates electricity, it pushes down wholesale electricity prices, helping to protect consumers.

“Our findings show that on the windiest days last month, wholesale electricity prices were less than half of what they were on days when we had to rely on imported fossil fuels.

“Having affordable and reliable sources of clean energy is vital for consumers to have confidence in our transition to a zero-carbon society.”

Planning challenges

The launch of WEI’s monthly wind energy report follows the launch of its Q3 planning report on the number of wind energy projects getting through the planning system.

It shows that between July and September, An Coimisiún Pleanála approved just one new wind farm, around seven per cent of the volume of wind energy needed during this period to keep Ireland on track with its Climate Action Plan targets.

Wind Energy Ireland’s analysis also confirms that the planning backlog now exceeds 2,000 MW of onshore wind, equivalent to around 40 per cent of Ireland’s entire existing onshore wind capacity. 

Noel Cunniffe concluded: “To deliver more affordable, clean electricity for homes and businesses across Ireland, we need to work together to get wind farms through the planning system faster and to reinforce our electricity grid.

“It is disappointing that quarters two and three of this year have been poor for planning decisions on renewable energy projects from An Coimisiún Pleanála.

“It is critical that we build back up the momentum through the final quarter of 2025 so that we can see more renewable energy projects getting into construction and providing the clean power our country needs.”

The results of this report are based on EirGrid’s SCADA data compiled by MullanGrid, market data provided by ElectroRoute and county-level wind generation data provided by Green Collective.