Ireland ranked 4th in world in use of electricity from wind energy

The International Energy Agency (IEA) Wind Energy Annual Report 2008 reports that Ireland is now ranked fourth in the world in terms of contribution of wind energy to electricity use. Ireland, which supplies 8.7% of electricity demand from wind energy, is only behind Denmark (19.3%), Spain (11.7%) and Portugal (11.3%).

Key highlights for Ireland from the report show that:

• The contribution of wind energy to electricity demand in Ireland increased from 6.8% in 2007 to 8.7% in 2008, and;

• Installed wind power capacity in Ireland increased by 26% or 207MW from 794MW to 1002MW in 2008.

Another significant highlight shows that electrical output from wind increased by 29% worldwide and was enough to cover the equivalent of the total electrical consumption of Australia.

The IEA Wind Energy Report is available at: http://www.ieawind.org/AnnualReports_PDF/2008.html