An Bord Pleanála granted planning permission for 10 new wind farms last year with a combined capacity of 717 MW.
This marked an increase of 16% on the 2023 decisions and represents about 42% of the volume of wind energy needed to keep Ireland on track for the Government's targets in the Climate Action Plan.
The figures are containted in Wind Energy Ireland's first annual planning report as it holds its annual conference in Dublin.
The report details the number of wind energy projects that passed through the planning system in 2024.
It shows that An Bord Pleanála also rejected planning applications from 12 wind farms with an estimated combined capacity of 677 MW, while 30 projects totalling 1,598 MW were waiting for a decision at the end of 2024.
Wind Energy Ireland estimates that in order 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 worth of wind farms.
Noel Cunniffe, CEO of Wind Energy Ireland, said that 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," he added.
