Winds of Change
Electricity customers can now see the output of wind farms connected to power system

Irish electricity customers can now view live information on the output of wind generation connected to the power system, as well as data on demand for electricity throughout the day, from their homes and offices.

Graphs of sampled and estimated wind output information, as well as the daily demand for electricity, are on the website of the electricity transmission system operator (TSO), National Grid. The website is www.eirgrid.com

The upgrade to the grid operator's website comes at a time when rapidly increasing quantities of wind power are being added to the power system. 574 megawatts of wind power (enough to power more than 370,000 homes, depending on weather conditions) is now connected to the Irish power system.

Ireland is in line to achieve and exceed our EU target of 13.2 per cent of electricity generated from renewable sources, ahead of time. As well as the connected windfarms, agreements to connect have been signed by the system operators (National Grid and ESB Networks) with 614MW of wind farms and offers to connect have been issued to 97MW of wind farms.

The upgrade to the grid operator's website means that estimated output information on wind generation is now graphed throughout the day at 15- minute intervals. And in addition to this, the grid operator is continuing to graph the demand for electricity throughout the day on its website each 15 minutes.

The wind graph includes sampled and estimated information on wind output at wind farms around Ireland. Because the wind farm graph it is based on sampled and estimated data, participants in the electricity market should not use it for any market decisions, but it does contribute to increased communication by the TSO on this important issue.

The role of transmission system operator is currently carried out by ESB National Grid, and will in the future be carried out by a separate state-owned company, EirGrid plc.