1. Introduction:
Enterprise Ireland is hosting an Ideagen Event on Tuesday, May 25, in Harveys
Point Hotel, Donegal Town on Wind Energy and Associated Sub Sectors, i.e.
Conditioning Monitoring, Wireless Sensors, Maintenance and Consultancy Services.
The event will bring together a mix of businesses, researchers and investors to
network and brainstorm about the possibilities for the development and maintenance
of Wind Energy systems in Donegal. The evening’s events will be facilitated by
Sean McNulty of Innovator. (www.innovator.ie)
Speaker Profiles:
Michael Walsh from Irish Wind Energy Association (IWEA) will address Ideagen and
talk about the trends and opportunities in this sector.
Michael Walsh joined the IWEA as CEO in November 2007. Prior to joining the
IWEA Michael was manager of market development at EirGrid where he played a
key role in the successful development of the Single Electricity Market. He was
previously Manager of Ancillary Services at EirGrid and has been involved
in several international assignments with ESBI.
Michael has a B.E. and a Ph.D. in Engineering from University College Dublin and is
active in several professional associations.
Christian Wefer is the MD of a Renewable Energy Company based in Langehorn,
Germany called Westgmbh (Wind Energie Service Tecnik) gmbh
(www.westgmbh.de). Christian will share with the group his experience of working
with companies in a fishing port Hussem in Germany and how these companies
transferred their strengths to Wind Energy maintenance following the down turn in
the fishing industry.
Christian has developed expertise in the area of Wind Farm Planning and is currently
in discussion with LYIT re training and development.

2. Global Scene:
Wind is a global power source
From an emerging fuel source twenty years ago, wind energy has mushroomed into
a mature and booming global business. Generation costs have fallen dramatically
over the last 15 years, moving closer to the cost of conventional energy sources.
Modern wind turbines have improved dramatically in their power rating, efficiency
and reliability.
There is huge and growing global demand for emissions-free wind power, which can
be installed quickly, virtually everywhere in the world.
Over the past ten years, global wind power capacity has continued to grow at an
average cumulative rate of over 30%, and 2008 was another record year with more
than 27 GW of new installations, bringing the total up to over 120 GW. The United
States passed Germany to become the number one market in wind power, and
China’s total capacity doubled for the fourth year in a row.
Wind energy has grown into an important player in the world’s energy markets, with
the 2008 market for turbine installations worth about €36.5bn.
The wind industry also creates many new jobs: over 400,000 people are now
employed in this industry, and that number is expected to be in the millions in the
near future.
Wind energy is the only power generation technology that can deliver the necessary
cuts in CO2 in the critical period up to 2020, when greenhouse cases must peak and
begin to decline to avoid dangerous climate change. The 120.8 GW of global wind
capacity will produce 260 TWh and save 158 million tons of CO2 every year.
Three key regions are continuing to drive global wind development: North America,
Europe and Asia, with the lion’s share of 2008’s new installations evenly distributed
between them.

4. EU Scene:
2009 Annual Installations:
• 10,163MW of wind power capacity installed in the EU during 2009, up 23%
from the previous year;
• More wind power capacity was installed during 2009 than any other electricity
generating technology, 39% of total 2009 installations;
• Investment in EU wind farms in 1009 was €13 billion;
• Renewable power installations accounted for 61% of new installations during
2009, with a total of 25,963 MW of new power capacity being installed.
Trends & cumulative installations:
• Wind power installations accounted for 39% of new installations in 2009, the
second year running that more wind power was installed than any other
generating technology;
• Renewable power installations accounted for 61% of new installations in
2009, the second year running that renewables accounted for the majority of
new power installations;
• The EU power sector continues its move away from coal, fuel oil and nuclear,
each technology continuing to decommission more than it installs;
• The EU’s total installed power capacity increased 20,150 MW to 820,606 MW
with wind power increasing its share of installed capacity to 74,767 MW
(9.1%).
Data for wind power installations:
• Annual installations of wind power have increased steadily over the last 15
years from 472 MW in 1994 to 10,163 MW in 2009, an annual average market
growth of 23%.
• A total of 74,767 MW is now installed in the European Union with Germany
remaining the EU country with the largest installed capacity, followed by
Spain, Italy, France, and the UK

5. Irish Scene:
Ireland’s economy and society are 92% dependent on imported fossil fuels. Wind
energy can reduce CO2 and mitigate climate change. Currently Ireland generates
12% of its electricity from wind and it is aimed to increase this to over 40% by 2020.
This will require an investment of over €14bn on the island of Ireland and will create
an estimated 10 000jobs.
Ireland has substantial natural energy resources and is ideally placed to contribute to
EU requirements for renewable generation and fuel security. The UK has estimated
that the supply chain to meet its offshore requirements may be worth £100bn. There
are significant opportunities for Irish companies to enter this market.
At present* there are 124 wind farms on-line and operational, in 23 counties on the
island of Ireland generating a total capacity of 1570.10MW. Donegal currently has
25 wind farms – more than any other county – and its 240MW of installed capacity
accounts for 15% of the wind energy output on the island.
*Figures correct as on 22/02/10 (IWEA)
Donegal is a net exporter of wind energy to the rest of the country, exporting 160mw
of the 240mw it produces. It aims to provide 350mw to 500mw of wind energy by
2020.
Ireland is aiming to connect a larger share of renewable generation to the system
quicker than most other industrialised countries. This creates opportunities to
pioneer the innovative smart grid solutions that will enable this.