Meentycat is a 72 MW wind power plant in Ulster, Ireland. It is operated by SSE Renewables. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 61k homes (estimated). It ranks #37 of 76 Ireland power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2005, it is around 21 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 WRI1022941.
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 L100000915448); fuel: WRI source-record fuel
At 72 MW, Meentycat 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 SSE Renewables.
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 54.9°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 31% 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: 69/100 — this site sits in the top 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 #4 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 54.8702, -7.8562 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Meentycat is a 72 MW source-record wind power plant in Ulster, Ireland, commissioned in 2005.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 61,269 homes (estimated).
Meentycat is operated by SSE Renewables.
