Eirgrid says it brought 86% of energy on grid after Blaney claims Donegal wind is being ‘dumped and wasted’

The national grid operator told the ‘Journal’ it is continuing to upgrade the network in the north west in order to help bring ‘greater amounts of renewable energy from sources such as wind and solar onto the grid so that 80 per cent of electricity can come from renewables by 2030’.

This followed Donegal Senator Niall Blaney, claiming in the Seanad that the grid was ‘not fit for purpose’.

"I can speak only in real terms of County Donegal. The situation there, as I know it, is that most of the energy produced by the wind farms and hydro station is currently dumped and wasted.

"In the current climate, with the price people are paying for electricity, it is not good enough. I have with me the EirGrid implementation plan for 2023 to 2028.

"It is not fit for purpose for the western seaboard or places like County Donegal. The north, north west and west are the points with the greatest ability to create that energy into the future but we are not planning for it. Our network is not fit for purpose,” he told senators.

Addressing the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, Ossian Smyth, Senator Blaney, added: “What I see in front of me does not give any answers or conclusions as to when County Donegal will have the network required. Currently, we dump between 21 and 22 hours of our resources out of 24 hours per day.”

Senator Blamey claimed this was an ‘awful waste’, adding, ‘Donegal is one of the biggest contributors in renewable energy yet we are dumping it’.

Responding to Senator Blaney’s intervention a spokesperson for Eirgrid pointed out that it was able to bring the majority of renewable energy onto the grid in the north west this year.

“In order to enable a safe and balanced supply, no generator - either conventional or renewable - operates so that its full output enters the system at all times. There are many reasons for this, including when energy consumption is very low at night or to balance the flow of power throughout the system, such as when upgrades or maintenance is being carried out.

“In the first 10 months of 2023 to October, EirGrid was able to bring over 86% of all electricity from wind energy resources in the Northwest region onto the grid.

“EirGrid is continually enabling the connection of greater amounts of renewable energy to the grid and this share will continue to increase in the years to come, alongside further solutions such as greater battery storage capacity and interconnection as laid out in the Shaping Our Electricity Future Roadmap,” the spokesperson said.

Responding to Senator Blaney in the Seanad, Mr. Smyth said: “Senator Blaney said he believes the vast majority of renewable energy generated in Donegal is being dumped. I am not aware of this. I am happy to look into it. If this is what is happening, it is not right and it should not be the case.”

31% of North's green energy provided by Derry/Strabane