Electricity Supply by Source 2025

Gas and Wind

Gas was the largest fuel source used for generation of electricity in Ireland in 2025, responsible for 47% of total generated electricity, followed by wind power at 40% of generated supply.  

The high contribution from these two sources can be seen in Figure 3.1 below which shows the amount of electricity generated by gas and wind for each month in 2025, relative to the total supply. In general winter months have a higher share of electricity generated by wind, and lower shares in summer.

February had the highest monthly share of electricity supplied by wind in 2025, at 49%. Within the month there was a wide variation in wind generation, for example 80% of generated electricity came from wind on the 23rd of February compared to just 11% on the 27th of the month. Figure 3.2 shows the variation in supply from gas, trade and wind by day in February 2025.  

At a monthly level Ireland was a net importer of electricity in 2025, but on a daily or hourly basis there can be net export figures. This can be seen in Figure 3.2 where a negative net import figure indicates net exports of electricity on that day. For example on 13 February 2025, Ireland was a net exporter of 11 GWh of electricity.

Figure 3.3 shows the correlation between electricity generation from wind in February 2025 and mean wind speeds at Valentia Observatory Meteorological Weather Station. This demonstrates the high variability of wind as an energy source. See PxStat table MTD08.

Solar

The amount of electricity from solar generation was 1,101 GWh in 2025, which made up 4% of generated electricity. Solar generation in this release refers to the generation from grid-scale solar farms. It does not include micro-generation, for example from domestic solar panels.  

Electricity generation from solar energy is dependent on both the number of daylight hours in a given day, which depends on the time of year, and the amount of sunshine, which is weather related.  

This impact is clear when looking at Figure 3.4 which compares the solar generation in winter months, January and December 2025, and summer months, May and June. In December the solar generation has the narrowest time window, with generation occurring between approximately 8am and 4pm in the evening, roughly eight hours. In contrast, the time window for solar generation in June is from approximately 4am to 9pm, which is a 17-hour period.  

The impact of the number of sunshine hours can be seen when comparing May and June data. Although the generation time window for June is wider, the total electricity generated from solar power was higher in May. Met Éireann data for 2025 showed that May had the highest number of sunshine hours recorded at Dublin Airport, with a total of 288 sunshine hours, whereas June had 158 sunshine hours. See link to PxStat table MTM07.

Solar electricity generation is higher on average in summer than in winter, but on a daily basis there can be large differences. For example, on 12 June 2025, 1,397 MWh of solar electricity was generated which was less than a fifth of the 7,809 MWh generated just under one week later on 18 June 2025. Figure 3.5 shows the daily variation in solar electricity generation in 2025.

Coal, Oil and other Non-Renewables

The use of coal, oil, peat and other non-renewable fuel sources to generate electricity has decreased significantly over the past number of years. At the end of 2025 there were no longer any coal or peat fired power stations operating in Ireland.  The peat burning power stations were either shut down or transitioned to burning biomass, a renewable source of electricity, by the end of 2023, and during 2025 the coal plants were either shut down or transitioned to oil.

In 2025 coal was used to generate 453 GWh of electricity, which made up 2% of total generated electricity, 142 GWh was generated from oil, and 54 GWh from distillate, a refined oil product.  

The monthly generation figures from these non-renewable sources are shown in Figure 3.6. Note that this chart does not include gas, which is also a non-renewable source.

Electricity Storage

Large scale energy storage technologies are connected to the grid and store electricity for later use. These technologies help to balance supply and demand by storing electricity during times of low demand and high generation, and discharging electricity during times of high demand. They are useful for storing excess electricity from non-dispatchable electricity sources such as solar and wind. In Ireland, electricity can be stored using Turlough Hill Pump Storage, which transfers water between an upper and lower reservoir, and a network of batteries.

Overall, in 2025 electricity storage output contributed a small share of electricity supply, at 1%. However, during the peak demand period of 5pm to 6pm electricity storage output, from pumped hydro and battery discharge combined, provided 4% of electricity supply on average, and as much as 13% on 19 December 2025.  

Figure 3.7 shows how these storage systems store electricity mainly during the nighttime when demand is lower and discharge electricity during the day and evening time to help meet peak demand times and operate in a cyclical way.