Ballywater is a 42 MW wind power plant in Leinster, Ireland. It is operated by Gaelectric Developments Ltd [100%]. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 36k homes (estimated). It ranks #50 of 76 Ireland power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2006, it is around 20 years old — relatively modern. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, wind supplies about 38.0% of Ireland's electricity; the national grid averages 257 gCO₂/kWh (48.1% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1022837.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
The capacity and/or fuel fields on this page include a source-backed provenance label from GEM, an official registry, Wikidata, OSM, or a cross-source match.
capacity: GEM tracker 2026 (location L100000907723); fuel: WRI source-record fuel
At 42 MW, Ballywater is well above the median wind plant in Ireland (35 MW). Technically it is described as Onshore. Wind turbines convert moving air into electricity; output is variable and site-dependent, and modern turbines deliver some of the lowest-cost new generation on many grids.
Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Gaelectric Developments Ltd [100%].
This wind plant converts the kinetic energy of wind into electricity through turbine rotors. It sits in a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 52.5°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Monthly mean temperature
Heating degree-days here run 17% above the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.
Climate heat-demand index: 59/100 — this site sits in the mid third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.
Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.
For a plant’s outdoor hardware — heat-recovery steam generators (HRSG), expansion joints, valves, flanges and their insulation — the local climate sets how fast unprotected steel and coatings degrade. This site sits in a corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C4 — High), with humidity / wetness the leading environmental stress.
Higher environmental severity is exactly where protective removable insulation pays back most: a sheltered micro-climate slows corrosion, UV and thermal-cycling damage and extends outdoor hardware service life. This is an indicative site-climate context — not a condition assessment of any specific plant or operator.
Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.
The #14 largest wind power plant of 38 in Ireland by capacity.
Ireland has 38 wind power plants in this dataset, together about 1,326 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 52.5387, -6.2396 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Ballywater is a 42 MW source-record wind power plant in Leinster, Ireland, commissioned in 2006.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 35,740 homes (estimated).
Ballywater is operated by Gaelectric Developments Ltd [100%].
