Electricity Consumption and Renewable Generation in Northern Ireland: Year Ending September 2021

Date published: 02 December 2021

A report detailing the percentage of electricity consumption in Northern Ireland generated from renewable sources was published today.

Electricity Consumption and Renewable Generation in Northern Ireland:
Electricity Consumption and Renewable Generation in Northern Ireland:

The ‘Electricity Consumption and Renewable Generation in Northern Ireland: Year ending June 2021’ report details the percentage of electricity consumption in Northern Ireland generated from renewable sources and includes information on the type of renewable generation used. The report reflects performance against the 2011-15 Programme for Government target which was to “Encourage achievement of 20 per cent of electricity consumption from renewable sources by 2015” and the Executive’s 2010-20 Strategic Energy Framework which included a target to achieve 40 per cent of electricity consumption from renewable sources by 2020.

Main results

For the 12 month period October 2020 to September 2021, 42.1 per cent of total electricity consumption in Northern Ireland was generated from renewable sources located in Northern Ireland. This represents a decrease of 5.5 percentage points on the previous 12 month period (October 2019 to September 2020).

The decrease over this period in the proportion of electricity consumption generated from renewable sources was driven largely by the reduced volume of wind generation.

In terms of the volume of electricity consumption between October 2020 and September 2021, some 7,549 Gigawatt hours (GWh) of total electricity was consumed in Northern Ireland. Over the same period, some 3,180 GWh was generated from renewable sources located in Northern Ireland.

Of all renewable electricity generated within Northern Ireland over the 12 month period October 2020 to September 2021, 82.4 per cent was generated from wind. This compares to 84.5 per cent for the previous 12 month period (October 2019 to September 2020).

For the 12 month period ending September 2021, non-wind renewable electricity generation in Northern Ireland was 558.2 GWh.

Reflecting the impacts of Covid-19, the five lowest monthly electricity consumption volumes on record were recorded between April and August 2020.

The full report is available on the Department's website.  

Notes to editors: 

  1. The information presented in the report is derived from data provided to the Department for the Economy on a monthly basis by Northern Ireland Networks Ltd (NIE Networks). The monthly renewable electricity generation data is derived by aggregating output from renewable electricity generators who are connected to the transmission and distribution network using a combination of data held by NIE Networks and the System Operator for Northern Ireland (SONI). The renewable electricity generation data details the total amount of renewable electricity generated by such generators in Northern Ireland, by type of generation, for each month.
  2. Some forms of renewable generation are not covered by the data contained in the report. Due to their particular circumstances, neither NIE Networks nor SONI have information on the electricity generated by some renewable generators. These include microgenerators and a small number of generating stations that are unable to export electricity to the grid (non-export stations).
  3. Electricity consumption refers to the total amount of electricity consumption in Northern Ireland as recorded via metered data by NIE Networks.
  4. Electricity generated from renewable sources refers to renewable generators physically located within Northern Ireland and recorded by NIE Networks and SONI. It excludes microgeneration, non-export generating stations and any imported electricity derived from known or unknown renewable sources.
  5. For media enquiries, please contact the Department's Press Office at pressoffice@economy-ni.gov.uk
  6. The Executive Information Service operates an out-of-hours service for media enquiries only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110.
  7. General information on the Electricity Consumption and Renewable Generation for Northern Ireland report can be obtained from Sean Donnelly, Department for the Economy Analytical Services by email at sean.donnelly@economy-ni.gov.uk or by telephone on 028 9052 9793.

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