16 Jan 2025
ABP approved less than half the energy needed to reach the Climate Action Plan targetIn 2024 An Bord Pleanála granted planning permission for 10 new wind farms with a combined capacity of 717 MW. This is approximately 42 per cent of the volume of wind energy needed to keep Ireland on track for the Government’s targets in the Climate Action Plan.
That is according to the first annual planning report published by Wind Energy Ireland as hundreds of delegates arrive for day two of its Annual Conference in Dublin. The report details the number of wind energy projects that passed through the planning system in 2024.
Annual figures
Last year, An Bord Pleanála granted planning permission for 10 new wind farms with a combined estimated capacity of 717 MW. Wind Energy Ireland estimates that, to achieve the 9,000 MW of onshore wind energy by 2030 target in the Climate Action Plan, An Bord Pleanála would have needed to approve 1,720 MW during this period.
The Board also rejected planning applications from 12 wind farms with an estimated combined capacity of 677 MW, while 30 projects totalling 1,598 MW were awaiting decision at the end of 2024.
Noel Cunniffe, CEO of Wind Energy Ireland, said: “Irish people want clean, affordable and secure energy. That is what wind farms deliver but we will need more of them to provide the power Irish families, businesses and communities demand.
“Before we can build new wind farms, we need to first get them through the planning system and we are simply not seeing enough new projects to enable us to reach our 2030 targets.”
Industry did welcome the increase in the number of decisions made in 2024, which was up by 16 per cent when compared to 2023.
Noel Cunniffe, CEO of Wind Energy Ireland, said: “The extra resources that Government has put into An Bord Pleanála, the NPWS and other planning authorities are very welcome. We are starting to see the effect of that in the number of decisions being made and particularly towards the end of last year.”
Best quarter in 2024
The annual figures follow particularly positive results in the fourth quarter of last year.
The number of projects approved by An Bord Pleanála in Q4 2024 accounted for half of all wind energy projects that received planning permission in 2024 and compared to only a single project in the third quarter.
Noel Cunniffe, CEO of Wind Energy Ireland, continued: “An Bord Pleanála’s rate of grants for new wind farms increased significantly during the last quarter of 2024, with five wind farms receiving planning permission.
“An Bord Pleanála deserves credit for the increase in the amount of planning decisions being made, particularly towards the end of last year.
“But it is essential that the performance in Q4 of last year becomes the new normal, that we can maintain that pace of decision-making and even accelerate further in the months ahead.”
Climate Action Plan
To achieve the Climate Action Plan’s target of 9,000 MW of onshore wind energy by 2030 An Bord Pleanála would have needed to approve 1,720 MW during 2024 to stay on track.
Noel Cunniffe said: “Despite a positive end to last year, today’s report shows that Ireland is still falling behind with just 717 MW of new wind energy projects approved for planning in 2024 when we needed more than double that.”
Noel Cunniffe concluded: “To meet the needs of our growing economy, we need to accelerate the delivery of new onshore and offshore wind farms and reinforce the electricity grid in just a few short years.
“Between now and 2030, we need to ensure that our planning system has the resources it needs to assess a growing number of planning applications for critical renewable energy projects and that our national policies on climate action are reflected in local County Development Plans.
“To deliver a zero-carbon electricity system, the incoming Government needs to support our planning authorities and ensure that we have enough and the expertise to be able to assess applications quickly but thoroughly.”
