Technical Analysis — Land Use Assessment — Rev A

Renewable Energy
Land Requirements

How much land would Ireland and the UK need if all energy came from solar, wind, or an optimal mix? This analysis quantifies the physical footprint for 100% renewable scenarios — from electricity-only to full primary energy replacement — with and without seasonal storage. All figures derived from published capacity factors, land-use densities, and SEAI/BEIS energy statistics.

Drawing Register

Project

Renewable Land Use Analysis

Drawing No.

RLA-2026-0320-001

Scale

Variable (see notes)

Date

2026-03-20

Units

TWh, GW, km²

Source Data

SEAI, BEIS, IEA

RevA

StatusFinal

ClassOpen

Country Parameters

Scenario Results

Visual Land Comparison

Seasonal Mismatch & Optimal Mix

Key Engineering Insights

Wind boundary area is misleading — 98.5% of the land within a wind farm boundary remains usable for agriculture. Only the turbine pads, access roads, and substations are physically occupied. The "physical footprint" is the relevant metric. Ref: Wind farm co-use studies

The optimal wind/solar mix eliminates seasonal storage entirely. By balancing summer-heavy solar with winter-heavy wind, annual output becomes flat enough for batteries alone. No hydrogen conversion losses. This is the key finding. Ref: Seasonal balance algebra

Full electrification of transport and heating needs only 60–65% of current primary energy. Heat pumps are 3x more efficient than gas boilers; EVs are 3–4x more efficient than combustion engines. The "all energy" figure overstates what electrification requires. Ref: Sector coupling efficiency gains

Solar output in December at these latitudes is roughly 1/7th of June output. This extreme seasonality drives the need for massive hydrogen storage in solar-only scenarios — or motivates the wind-heavy optimal mix that avoids it entirely. Ref: PVGIS irradiance data 51–54°N

Ireland vs UK — Year-Round Mixed Scenario

Ireland (71/29 Wind/Solar)

Electricity (31.9 TWh)264 km² — 0.38%

All Energy (157 TWh)1,302 km² — 1.85%

Gross Generation (elec)35.1 TWh

Gross Generation (all)172.7 TWh

Storage TypeBatteries only

Comparison≈ 2.3x Dublin city

UK (77/23 Wind/Solar)

Electricity (300 TWh)2,312 km² — 0.96%

All Energy (1,160 TWh)8,936 km² — 3.69%

Gross Generation (elec)330 TWh

Gross Generation (all)1,276 TWh

Storage TypeBatteries only

Comparison≈ 1.5x Greater London

Interactive Calculator

Wind Fraction 70%

100% Solar100% Wind

Target Energy 31.9TWh/yr

10 TWh1,931 TWh (UK total)

Country

Assumptions & Parameters

Parameter	Ireland	UK	Source
Total primary energy	157 TWh/yr	1,931 TWh/yr	SEAI, BEIS
Electrified all-energy	~100 TWh (est.)	~1,160 TWh	Sector coupling analysis
Electricity demand	31.9 TWh/yr	300 TWh/yr	EirGrid, National Grid
Land area	70,273 km²	242,000 km²	OSi, OS
Solar capacity factor	10.5%	10%	PVGIS, historical
Wind capacity factor (onshore)	31%	26%	EirGrid, BEIS
Solar land use	2 ha/MW (0.02 km²/MW)		BRE, NREL
Wind physical land use	0.5 ha/MW (0.005 km²/MW)		EWEA
Wind boundary land use	34.5 ha/MW (0.345 km²/MW)		EWEA
Solar seasonal split	75% summer / 25% winter	73% summer / 27% winter	PVGIS
Wind seasonal split	40% summer / 60% winter	43% summer / 57% winter	Met data
Optimal mix (wind/solar)	71% / 29%	77% / 23%	Seasonal balance calc
Storage round-trip (batteries)	~90%		Industry consensus
Storage round-trip (H2)	~38% (electrolysis + fuel cell)		IEA