Data Centres Could Underwrite Growing Wind Power Production, Baringa Says

Wind energy helped Ireland save nearly €1B on gas for electricity generation, according to a report from consulting company Baringa in its annual Cutting Carbon, Cutting Bills report.

It found that 32% of Ireland’s electricity was delivered by wind energy in 2024, with Irish wind farms helping reduce spending on gas by €748M while energy companies saved a further €268M in carbon taxes.

Energy supply has become increasingly important in Ireland, with data centre development around Dublin on pause over energy infrastructure concerns and a number of contracts awarded for offshore wind farms, which will also help support the country’s aims of increasing housing supply, with the infrastructure support required.

“Last year Ireland reached record levels of wind energy generation capacity, with over 5,000MW of onshore generation capacity now installed. However, it was also the worst year on record for the amount of wind power lost due to challenges with electricity grid capacity,” Wind Energy Ireland CEO Noel Cunniffe said in a statement.

“This report highlights the critical role Irish wind farms are playing in driving down energy costs, cutting our carbon emissions and reducing our reliance on imported fossil fuels.

The report also noted that Cork led the country in producing wind energy, making up 11.7% of Ireland’s wind power, followed by Kerry, Offaly, Tipperary and Galway.

Baringa said late last year that many offshore wind projects could depend on corporate power purchase agreements, which could derisk the investment by energy companies in offshore wind projects, providing revenue certainty.

"Our research shows that data centres can benefit offshore wind by providing the revenue certainty required to attract investment and to build projects," Baringa partner Mark Turner said of the research in a statement. "Vice versa, this offshore wind generation can help decarbonise Ireland’s data centre capacity — the critical infrastructure acting as the bedrock of Ireland’s digitalisation."

The latest report also highlighted that wind continued to play an important role in energy production this year and accounted for nearly a third of Ireland’s electricity production in January.

“As we saw during Storm Éowyn, resilience of our electricity grid is key to meeting growing demand while ensuring a secure and sustainable energy future,” Cunniffe said. “The focus must move soon to building a more resilient electricity network to protect us from even fiercer storms in the future. Strengthening our grid infrastructure is a vital investment in our future.”