Solar farms provide 2% of October’s electricity requirements

New provisional data from EirGrid shows that 2% of Ireland’s electricity demand came from grid-scale solar projects in October.

This represents a 100% increase from 1% in October 2024. The figures, which exclude rooftop solar, show the challenges of the technology during dull spells of weather.

In May of this year, solar power reached its highest recorded figure on the national electricity grid, providing 6.5% of the nation’s electricity requirements.

Records show that October was one of the dullest months on record, significantly reducing solar production.

Good month for renewables

However, despite this, 43% of electricity came from renewable sources over the month.

The majority of renewable energy generated last month came from wind farms, which accounted for 36% of all electricity used in Ireland.

Total generation from wind energy amounted to 1,073 gigawatt hours (GWh) in October, compared with 920GWh in September.

Gas generation accounted for 39% of all electricity used in October and 16% was imported via interconnection.