DUBLIN, Ireland: In 2023, renewable energy sources contributed to 42 percent of Ireland’s electricity, according to the annual report released by EirGrid Group.
EirGrid, which oversees the operation and development of Ireland’s electricity grid, highlighted significant advancements and challenges in the past year.
Despite a drop in group profit before tax to 71.2 million euros from 114.9 million euros in 2022, largely due to regulatory timing differences and higher operating costs, the underlying profit for 2023 rose to 40.6 million euros from 26.3 million euros in 2022.
This increase excludes the impact of over and under-recoveries on reported profit. EirGrid plans to return the related over-recovery to Transmission Use of System customers through reduced tariffs in the future.
EirGrid also announced a proposed dividend of 4 million euros to the government, maintaining the same amount as last year.
In 2023, Ireland experienced a new peak demand of 5,544MW and added new capacities to its system: 300MW of solar power, 150MW of wind power, and 75MW of battery storage. The System Non-Synchronous Penetration (SNSP) limit, which measures the ability to integrate renewable energy into the grid, was raised to 75 percent, with 512 hours of operation above 70 percent SNSP.
The report also noted the first Offshore Renewable Electricity Support Scheme auction conducted on behalf of the government and the signing of technical and financial agreements for the Celtic Interconnector project in November 2022.
Brendan Tuohy, Chair of EirGrid Group, stated, “EirGrid continues to tackle the dual challenge of decarbonizing the electricity system to meet the government’s targets for 2030 and beyond while ensuring a secure supply. I am pleased to report a successful year in operating the electricity system safely and securely despite challenging circumstances. We have also made significant progress on key elements of our EirGrid Strategy (2020-2025) to support the government’s climate ambitions.”
