When it comes to the subject of energy, the remaining months of 2019 have already signalled a winter of discontent.

Wind is part of the energy mosaic that will help us reduce our impact on climate change but despite that wind farms are not always welcome by the communities expected to host them.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar recently acknowledged that Ireland has been a “laggard” in terms of reaching its mandated EU targets regarding renewable energy.

Claims by the boss of John Laing that it has taken a financial hit on its farm here after assessing that the wind will blow less strongly than expected has perplexed other energy suppliers.

John Laing, the giant infrastructure firm, said it is taking a multi-million writedowns on a windfarm it owns in Co Tipperary and in Germany because it estimates that the wind will blow less and generate less power over the next 10 to 15 years than it once anticipated.

Consumers should be made more aware that a levy on electricity bills can actually lead to lower energy prices, according to the owners of wind farms.

Climate Action Minister Richard Bruton, the IDA, and a wind farm business group have all hailed the announcement by retail giant Amazon that it will tap power from wind turbines in Co Cork.

Amazon has bought a second wind farm in Ireland.

Renewable energy groups have urged the Government to better incentivise companies to invest in offshore wind projects in Irish waters.

Ireland is set to fall short of the EU's 2020 targets for renewable energy use.

A billboard campaign promoting the connection between wind energy and dealing with climate change will be unveiled across nine counties today.

Almost one-third of Ireland's energy needs now comes from wind, the second highest in Europe, as new figures confirm that 2018 was a record-breaking year for wind energy production.

A new cost-benefit analysis of the resource shows its net cost each year was less than €1 per person since the year 2000.

Six windfarms are under investigation by Cork County Council for alleged planning irregularities, amid calls from councillors for the Government to tighten up the industry.

A complaint against a dating agency’s radio advert claiming it was “the only regulated matchmaking agency in Ireland” has been upheld by the broadcasting watchdog.

Final planning permission has been granted for more than 250 wind turbines in just the past two years, according to an analysis of cases before An Bord Pleanála (ABP). *

Your editorial (“Changing EU policy on wind farms”, October 22) presents a case on wind farms that is an inaccurate and misleading account of Ireland’s current energy landscape which risks creating false perceptions of our future energy requirements.

A conference on wind energy yesterday heard calls on the Government to incentivise investment in the industry in the budget to allow the public, communities, and small investors to buy into the sector.

Rural residents opposed to wind farms are planning to protest this morning outside a meeting of the Irish Wind Energy Association in Kilkenny.

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Wind energy fulfilled a record 50% of Ireland’s electricity needs at times over the past six months, according to the Irish Wind Energy Association (IWEA).

Rural wrath over the Government’s wind energy and pylons policy was expressed by around 5,000 people outside Leinster House in Dublin yesterday.

Buses were hired and cars filled with petrol and diesel this morning as between 3,000 and 5,000 protesters take part in a mass protest in Dublin over wind turbines and pylons.

A United Nations (UN) report on climate change warned last week that storm surges, flooding and rising sea levels will wreak increasing havoc on our lives unless Governments take urgent action to reduce carbon emissions.

We need wind energy — just not so much hot air, writes Labour senator John Whelan.

The gradual conversion of the country’s largest power station from coal to biomass would allow Ireland to meet its renewable energy targets “in one single stroke”, according to a British energy expert who completed a report for one of the country’s anti-pylon groups.

The economy may get a boost from the introduction of windfarms but consumers could also see a rise in electricity bills.

One of the most senior doctors in the Department of Health, Colette Bonner, has responded to assertions from the wind lobby that her review on the health effects of turbines was “extremely limited and incomplete”.

The Irish wind energy lobby has derided a Department of Health review which gave credence to ‘wind turbine syndrome’, describing the review as “extremely limited and incomplete”.

A new report claims up to 35,000 jobs could be created in the wind energy sector by 2020.

The business case for the building of large-scale wind farms and the transmission networks that go with them is under threat from a policy move in Brussels.

A formal public consultation process surrounding the State’s proposed renewable energy export programme will be opened “in the next few weeks”.

Nearly €5bn worth of fresh investment in onshore wind energy projects is expected to be made over the next seven years.

An international expert in noise has advised the Department of the Environment that new guidelines on acceptable noise emissions from wind turbines must take account of existing ambient noise levels in individual communities.

Wind energy has huge potential, but the fears of communities need to be heeded, writes Michael Clifford

Ireland has the potential to cater for more than 12% of the EU’s energy demand through renewable energy exports, a conference heard yesterday.

A renewable energy consultancy is to employ 20 people in Dublin.

THOUGH hundreds of wind turbines have already been erected around the country, with the largest number being in elevated areas of Cork and Kerry, a national debate on a vexed issue is just getting underway.

I was pleased to see in your newspaper (Mar 19) that Tim Cowhig, CEO of Element Power, wants a proper national debate about wind farms in Ireland.

The Minister for Energy and Natural Resources, Pat Rabbitte, and his British counterpart, Edward Davey, will today sign a Memorandum of Understanding allowing Ireland to export wind-generated electricity to Britain.