January set a new record for peak electricity demand across the first weekend of the year.
February 17, 2026
Renewables contributed 38.7% of electricity on Ireland's grid in the first month of 2026.
According to the latest data from state-owned transmission system operator (TSO) EirGrid, the figures are similar to last year, when renewables accounted for 40% of electricity generation.
As usual in the winter months, wind power contributed the most to the mix with 32.8%, while solar PV’s electricity generation reached 0.8%. Despite this low level, solar PV showed the benefits of its contribution to the fuel mix on brighter days, EirGrid said.
Generation from grid-scale solar PV peaked at 371MW, representing nearly 8% of Ireland's System Demand, on Wednesday, 28 January at 12:45 pm, while a similar amount of embedded solar generation, mostly rooftop solar, occurred at this time and reduced the total system demand.
Moreover, January registered a new record for peak demand across two weekend days. On Saturday 3 January at 5:39 pm, electricity demand reached 5,297MW, which beat the previous record achieved a year prior almost to the day, on Saturday 4 January 2025.
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The following day, Sunday 4 January 2026, saw record generation for a Sunday with 5,480MW at 5:31 pm. The previous Sunday record was registered on 30 November 2025.
Overall, for the month of January, electricity system demand stood at 3,409GWh, up from the 3,234GWh in December 2025 and the 2,849GWh in January 2025.
Diarmaid Gillespie, EirGrid’s Director of System Operations, said: “The high demand on the system that we have seen over recent months and that we expect at this time of year continued in January.
“Notably there were all-time demand peaks for a Saturday and a Sunday recorded in the month, with the record set on Saturday 3 January the highest that we have seen for a Saturday since the same weekend last year. Parts of the country experienced a cold snap with snow and ice over that first weekend of the year which will in part explain the high level of demand on the electricity system.
“Similarly to what our recent data shows us, January again saw a significant amount of renewable energy contributing to the overall fuel mix.”
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Jonathan Touriño Jacobo
Section Editor, Jonathan Touriño Jacobo
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