The Government has announced a major milestone for solar energy in Ireland, with solar capacity passing a 3 gigawatt milestone for the first time.
Across the country, the rollout of solar energy continues at an accelerated pace; this includes rooftop solar and utility-scale solar farms.
A recent milestone of a new record of peak output from utility-scale solar farms was set on the national grid. This Monday, generation from these solar farms on the grid surpassed 1.3 GW; this meant that it supplied one third of the country’s total dispatchable electricity.
In general, solar uptake across Ireland has been strong since the first grid-scale solar farm was energised in April 2022. Over 200,000 homes across Ireland have installed solar panels, many of them with SEAI support.
Free solar panels have also been supplied to 2,000 schools across Ireland, giving vital support as energy prices climb higher.
The Minister for Climate, Energy, and the Environment, Darragh O’Brien, said:
“This week we have seen two major milestones for utility-scale solar – reaching 3 GW (Gigawatts) of installed solar capacity and establishing a new record for peak utility-scale solar farm generation [1.3 GW] at a given time on the grid. At times on Monday of this week, we saw utility-scale solar energy exceeding a third of the total electricity mix on the national grid. These milestones highlight just how rapidly solar energy, including the growing rooftop revolution, is becoming a major part of our energy system.
“With continued investment in solar – across homes, farms, businesses and large grid-scale projects – Ireland is building a growing source of homegrown, clean electricity, and strengthening our energy security.”
Nicholas Tarrant, Managing Director at ESB Networks, added: “This milestone underlines the growing role solar energy is playing in Ireland’s journey to a low-carbon future. The contribution of both domestic solar panels and major renewable developers delivering large-scale projects has been instrumental in passing the 3 GW threshold.
“ESB Networks is currently delivering a major programme of investment in the Irish electricity network under Price Review 6 to enable the further growth of renewables and support Ireland’s transition to a clean electric future.”
Minister Darragh O’Brien continued: “The successful solar growth in Ireland has been underpinned by clear Government policy and targeted support schemes and measures. Through initiatives such as the Solar PV grant, and our various renewable electricity support schemes, solar deployment is supported at every scale. We are committed to funding the Solar PV grant for the lifetime of this Government, up until 2030.
“Looking at renewable electricity as a whole, we now have over 8 GW (Gigawatts) of generation capacity connected to the network. To put that into perspective, we have added approximately 5 GW (Gigawatts) of new renewable electricity generation capacity in just ten years. That includes a doubling of our wind energy capacity, along with establishing a strong solar energy supply. Just over 10 years ago, there were 2 MW (MegaWatts) of solar in Ireland. Now there are over 3,000 MW (MegaWatts).”
To provide the best experiences, we and our partners use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us and our partners to process personal data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site and show (non-) personalized ads. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Click below to consent to the above or make granular choices. Your choices will be applied to this site only. You can change your settings at any time, including withdrawing your consent, by using the toggles on the Cookie Policy, or by clicking on the manage consent button at the bottom of the screen.

source