Wind is biggest contributor to Ireland’s fuel mix in April with almost 50% of electricity generated by renewables

Just under 40% (38%) of all electricity was generated by wind last month, making it the biggest contributor to Ireland’s fuel mix in April, according to new provisional data from EirGrid. 
 
The figures show that overall, 48% of electricity came from renewable sources in April, with 6% of electricity generated by large (grid-scale) solar farms. 
 
This is third consecutive month where renewable generation met around half of electricity demand, as significant progress continues to be made in integrating renewables onto Ireland’s power system.   
  
To date the developments EirGrid has made have enabled up to 75% of electricity to be generated from variable renewable sources (e.g. wind and solar) at any one time and EirGrid has a significant work programme underway to increase this to 95%. 
 
Looking at the same month last year, EirGrid’s metered data shows that 33% of electricity was generated by wind and 0.9% by grid-scale solar.  
 
Overall, total generation from wind and grid scale solar last month was 1,078 GWh (Gigawatt hours) and 163 GWh respectively, compared with 761 GWh and 119 GWh in April 2025. 
 
EirGrid balances supply and demand every minute of the day from the National Control Centre, while also planning for Ireland’s long-term electricity needs. 
 
Elsewhere last month, gas generation accounted for 35% of all electricity used while 16% was imported via interconnection.    
 
The overall electricity system demand stood at 2,865 GWh in April, compared to 3,142 GWh in March.
 
April also saw a new record for solar power, as Ireland reached a new peak of over 1 GW (gigawatt) of electricity provided by grid-scale solar power for the first time. 
 
The peak of 1 GW (1021 MW) was set for the first time on Monday 20 April at 12.19pm. Another record of 1087 MW was then set on Friday 24 April at 12.08pm followed by a record peak of 1133 MW on Saturday 25 April at 2.14pm. 
 
It is estimated that 1 GW is enough to power around 500,000 customers, and the new record is attributed to the growing number of large solar farms connected to the power system. 
 
Diarmaid Gillespie, EirGrid’s Director of System Operations, said: 
 
“It’s positive to see that this was the third consecutive month where almost half of Ireland’s electricity was generated by renewables. Wind continues to be the largest contributor, but the growth of solar in Ireland’s fuel mix if noteworthy as we head into the summer months.”