Data from Irish grid operator EirGrid has revealed that renewable energy met nearly half of Ireland’s demand in the first month of this year.
Around 46.7% of electricity supply in the Republic of Ireland came from a wide variety of renewable sources in January 2025, including wind and solar. Total system demand was 3,110GWh, most of which came from wind. Irish wind farms supplied around 41.4% of all electricity used in Ireland at 1,287GWh across the month.
Fossil fuel sources supplied the remaining makeup of Irish demand, with gas making up 38.3% of usage. 1.9% coming from coal, 12% coming from imports via interconnection, and 1.2% coming from other sources.
This follows another positive month for Irish renewables at the tail end of the year. December 2024 saw similar demographic makeup to January, while November saw a slightly less strong but still positive 33.5% of supply from renewables. Total system demand in November 2024 was 3,041GWh. Of the renewable supply, the vast majority came from wind farms, which accounted for just under 29% of all electricity used in Ireland at 869GWh across November 2024.
Ireland’s electricity grid is currently able to function with a maximum of 75% of its energy from renewable sources at one time, owing to current grid constraints and the inherent unpredictability of renewables. Increasing this figure, which is known as the known as the system non-synchronous penetration (SNSP) limit, is one of EirGrid’s aims over the coming months and years.
Speaking on the November statistics, Charlie McGee, system operational manager at EirGrid, said: “As we enter the winter months our National Control Centre plays a critical role in balancing supply and demand, as seen with the peaks recorded in November.
“This follows on from EirGrid’s annual Winter Outlook report forecasting the increase in demand to be expected at this time of year, which will be met by a mix of generation sources including renewables.”
Late 2024 saw a major Irish wind project come online for the first time. In December, energy company SSE celebrated the first power generation from the Yellow River Wind Farm, a 101MW development in County Offaly comprised of 27 turbines. Following this first generation of power, the turbines will continue to be tested before full commercial operations begin early this year.
