Renewable energy sources contributed 38.7% of electricity to Ireland’s grid in the first month of 2026.
According to the latest data from state transmission system operator (TSO) EirGrid, the figures are similar to last year, when renewable energy sources accounted for 40% of electricity generation.
As usual in the winter months, wind energy contributed the most to the mix at 32.8%, while electricity generation from solar energy reached 0.8%. Despite this low level, solar energy showed the benefits of its contribution to the fuel mix on brighter days, EirGrid said.
Grid-scale solar generation peaked at 371 MW at 12.45pm on Wednesday 28 January, representing almost 8% of Ireland’s system demand, while a similar amount of embedded solar generation, mainly rooftop solar, occurred at that time and reduced overall system demand.
In addition, January recorded a new record for peak demand over two weekend days. At 5:39 PM on Saturday, January 3, electricity demand reached 5,297 MW, surpassing the previous record set a year earlier, almost to the day on Saturday, January 4, 2025.
The next day, Sunday January 4, 2026, a record for a Sunday with 5,480 MW was generated at 5:31 PM. The previous Sunday record was registered on November 30, 2025.
Overall, electricity system demand for the month of January was 3,409 GWh, up from 3,234 GWh in December 2025 and 2,849 GWh in January 2025.
Diarmaid Gillespie, Director of System Operations at EirGrid, said: “The high demand for the system that we have seen in recent months and expect at this time of year continued in January.
“Saturday and Sunday demand peaks in particular were recorded in the month, with the record on Saturday 3 January being the highest we have seen for a Saturday since the same weekend last year. Parts of the country experienced a cold snap with snow and ice during that first weekend of the year, which will partly explain the high demand on the electricity system.
“Similar to what our recent data shows us, January again saw a significant amount of renewable energy contribute to the overall fuel mix.”
