Ireland will miss the Climate Action Plan’s target of 70 per cent renewable electricity by 2030 because of a broken planning system. This is according to a new report, Building Onshore Wind, published this week by the Irish Wind Energy Association.
Ireland currently has the highest share of electricity demand met by onshore wind in the world and it supplied almost 37 per cent of our electricity over the first six months of the year. This puts the country on track to reach our 2020 target of 40 per cent renewable electricity.
The Climate Action Plan set a new target of 70 per cent renewable electricity by 2030. This requires an additional 4,000 MW of onshore wind farms over the next ten years, reaching 8,200 MW overall.
As well as helping to tackle climate change this would create huge opportunities for Ireland’s post-Covid economy. Developing these new wind farms will create thousands of jobs, provide millions to rural communities through improved community benefit funding and generate badly needed new income for County Councils with increased commercial rates.
