Provisional figures from EirGrid show that renewable sources supplied 39% of Ireland's electricity in January, broadly in line with the 40% recorded by official metered data in January 2025.

Wind remained the dominant renewable, providing 33% of all electricity used last month. Total wind generation reached 1,119 GWh, down from 1,243 GWh in December. Solar contributed just under 1% overall but still made a noticeable impact on brighter days, underlining its value in winter.

Grid‑scale solar output peaked at 371 MW (about 8% of Ireland's system demand) at 12.45pm on Wednesday 28 January. EirGrid estimates a similar level of embedded solar (mostly rooftop) was producing at the same time, which reduced total system demand.

Gas generation accounted for 44% of electricity in January, while imports via interconnectors made up 16%.

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The power system set new all‑time weekend demand records. On Saturday 3 January at 5.39pm, demand reached 5,297 MW — the highest Saturday level in twelve months, surpassing the previous record set on Saturday 4 January 2025. On Sunday 4 January at 5.31pm, demand hit 5,480 MW, overtaking the previous Sunday peak recorded on 30 November 2025.

Overall system demand totalled 3,409 GWh in January, up from 3,234 GWh in December and 2,894 GWh in January 2025.

January's maximum demand did not exceed 6,000 MW, peaking at 5,916 MW at 5.47pm on Monday 5 January. By contrast, the system set a new record of 6,024 MW in January 2025. EirGrid said the lower peak this year was largely due to milder temperatures compared with 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."