Renewable energy sources produced 49% of metered electricity generation in November 2023 which was the highest monthly renewable share during 2023 (See Table 1C).
The renewable energy share was above 40% in July (44%), August (45%), September (42%), October (42%), and November 2023 (49%).
A lower proportion of renewable energy was used for generation during peak electricity demand periods in November e.g. 40% between 5pm and 5:30pm compared with 59% between 2:30am and 4am (See Table 5A).
Metered electricity generation from solar farms increased from 20,120 megawatt-hours (MWh) in 2022 to 428,364 MWh for January to November 2023 (See Table 2).
The monthly half-hourly period in November with the lowest metered electricity generation was between 4:30am and 5am with 42,907 MWh (See Table 4A).
The monthly half-hourly period in November with the highest metered electricity generation was between 5pm and 5:30pm when it was 68,189 MWh (See Table 4A).
Imports of electricity in November 2023 were 328,583 MWh which was 212% higher than the November 2022 figure of 105,472 MWh (See Table 7B).
Gas was used for 48% of metered electricity generation in 2020 (See Table A). This decreased to 46% in 2021 when there was a substantial increase in the Coal share to 9%. Metered electricity generated from Solar farms increased from 0.1% in 2022 to 1.6% for the first 11 months of 2023.
Table A Percentage of Metered Electricity Generation by Selected Primary Fuel Types | ||||||
Year | Gas | Wind | Coal | Renewable Hydro | Waste | Solar |
Percentage % | ||||||
2020 | 47.9 | 38.8 | 2.3 | 3.0 | 1.8 | 0.0 |
2021 | 45.7 | 33.1 | 9.1 | 2.4 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
2022 | 47.5 | 35.1 | 7.8 | 2.2 | 1.8 | 0.1 |
2023 (year-to-date) | 48.8 | 37.3 | 4.0 | 3.0 | 2.0 | 1.6 |
Metered electricity generation in November 2023 increased in the morning particularly between 7am and 9:30am. It was highest in the evening from around 5pm to 6pm (See Figure 1 and Table 4A).
There were 2.7 million MWh of metered electricity generated in November 2023 which was 7.7% lower than the November 2022 figure of 2.9 million MWh (See Table 1A).
2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
00:00-00:30 | 573669 | 559393 | 584890 | 495950 |
00:30-01:00 | 567069 | 556078 | 581774 | 488297 |
01:00-01:30 | 560981 | 551880 | 575653 | 479313 |
01:30-02:00 | 547217 | 536887 | 558593 | 469033 |
02:00-02:30 | 540277 | 532882 | 556135 | 464080 |
02:30-03:00 | 530586 | 522045 | 547581 | 451871 |
03:00-03:30 | 530774 | 522755 | 550903 | 450380 |
03:30-04:00 | 528179 | 517303 | 545171 | 443723 |
04:00-04:30 | 538450 | 526515 | 553382 | 452162 |
04:30-05:00 | 544148 | 531371 | 557620 | 451958 |
05:00-05:30 | 565619 | 549884 | 577637 | 472875 |
05:30-06:00 | 576468 | 560862 | 597540 | 486316 |
06:00-06:30 | 596117 | 580796 | 629067 | 513256 |
06:30-07:00 | 615335 | 605283 | 657782 | 535345 |
07:00-07:30 | 638219 | 626509 | 681544 | 559202 |
07:30-08:00 | 658210 | 647180 | 701489 | 584319 |
08:00-08:30 | 669859 | 662188 | 707189 | 592450 |
08:30-09:00 | 677001 | 672425 | 713177 | 603509 |
09:00-09:30 | 682545 | 673616 | 714031 | 607624 |
09:30-10:00 | 687338 | 673593 | 714756 | 608982 |
10:00-10:30 | 691210 | 676013 | 716257 | 607368 |
10:30-11:00 | 695673 | 678232 | 716521 | 606431 |
11:00-11:30 | 704959 | 682978 | 719843 | 610994 |
11:30-12:00 | 709242 | 684535 | 719270 | 610815 |
12:00-12:30 | 710676 | 685104 | 720968 | 614612 |
12:30-13:00 | 702219 | 677769 | 715479 | 613655 |
13:00-13:30 | 698661 | 675280 | 717804 | 611764 |
13:30-14:00 | 690149 | 665191 | 711181 | 600578 |
14:00-14:30 | 692053 | 665024 | 715665 | 604284 |
14:30-15:00 | 693895 | 666460 | 718716 | 600032 |
15:00-15:30 | 701792 | 674375 | 727018 | 606190 |
15:30-16:00 | 720538 | 694851 | 743919 | 613463 |
16:00-16:30 | 736291 | 712438 | 759537 | 627957 |
16:30-17:00 | 761617 | 740584 | 782032 | 650668 |
17:00-17:30 | 771818 | 750444 | 787329 | 668187 |
17:30-18:00 | 772930 | 754522 | 788204 | 678280 |
18:00-18:30 | 763842 | 748431 | 783411 | 680433 |
18:30-19:00 | 749833 | 734348 | 771111 | 672228 |
19:00-19:30 | 740281 | 724188 | 764273 | 667083 |
19:30-20:00 | 722124 | 700144 | 744761 | 650316 |
20:00-20:30 | 711294 | 687166 | 732477 | 636587 |
20:30-21:00 | 690409 | 660752 | 707234 | 619646 |
21:00-21:30 | 678356 | 645819 | 691495 | 608657 |
21:30-22:00 | 648089 | 613233 | 659665 | 580374 |
22:00-22:30 | 624035 | 597606 | 637870 | 562240 |
22:30-23:00 | 600755 | 582339 | 614070 | 529635 |
23:00-23:30 | 592010 | 576578 | 606171 | 515663 |
23:30-24:00 | 577892 | 563709 | 589772 | 502428 |
Natural Gas is the main fuel used to generate electricity. In 2023, it varied from 61% in both May and June 2023 to 43% in both January and November (See Table 1B). In contrast, Wind was used to produce 43% of total metered electricity generation in January, February, and November. Wind generated 25% of metered electricity in both May and June.
In 2022, the highest proportion of electricity generated from Gas was 63% in August while for Wind it was 55% in February.
Battery Storage | Biomass/Peat | Coal | Gas | Renewable Hydro | Hydro Storage | Oil | Solar | Waste | Wind | |
January | 0 | 1 | 5 | 43 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 43 |
February | 0 | 2 | 3 | 45 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 43 |
March | 0 | 2 | 4 | 46 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 40 |
April | 0 | 2 | 4 | 48 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 38 |
May | 0 | 2 | 4 | 61 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 25 |
June | 0 | 2 | 4 | 61 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 25 |
July | 0 | 0 | 4 | 50 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 38 |
August | 0 | 0 | 3 | 48 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 38 |
September | 0 | 0 | 5 | 49 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 37 |
October | 0 | 2 | 4 | 48 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 36 |
November | 0 | 1 | 4 | 42 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 43 |
On the 17 January a revision was made to the data in Figure 2, March and July were amended to correct for two percentage figures that had a trailing zero dropped during the IT process to upload the data to the CSO website.
February 2020 and February 2022 had the highest monthly share of renewable energy in metered electricity generation at 59% (See Table 1C). July 2021 at 16% had the lowest renewable energy share during the January 2020 to November 2023 time series. The renewable energy share by month and half-hourly period for 2023 is given in Table 5A and shows much greater variation than the aggregated monthly figures in Table 1C.
Gas and Wind were the main primary fuels used in 2020-2023. In January to November 2023, there were 13.3 million MWh of electricity generated from Gas compared with 10.2 million MWh generated from Wind (See Table 2).
There were four days in November 2020, nine days in November 2021, 10 days in November 2022, and two days in November 2023 when the daily metered electricity generation total exceeded 100,000 MWh (See Table 3A). In November 2023, the highest daily figure was 113,148 MWh on 30 November.
The highest daily metered electricity generation during January to November 2023 occurred on 09 March when it was 113,205 MWh (See Table 3B). The lowest daily figure for January to November was 54,644 MWh on 02 July.
In 2023, generation by Solar farms was highest in June at 68,120 MWh (See Table 4C). January had the lowest amount of metered electricity generated by Solar farms at 4,140 MWh however more Solar farms were connected to the grid as the year progressed.
The three highest half-hourly periods for metered electricity generation for an aggregated January to November 2023 occurred between 5:30pm and 7pm when over 670,000 MWh was generated in each half-hour. The lowest half-hourly period for the 11 months was between 3:30am and 4am when 443,723 MWh were generated (See Table 4A).
Coal | Gas | Renewable Hydro | Solar | Waste | Wind | |
00:00-00:30 | 4 | 35 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 51 |
00:30-01:00 | 4 | 35 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 52 |
01:00-01:30 | 4 | 34 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 52 |
01:30-02:00 | 4 | 33 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 53 |
02:00-02:30 | 4 | 33 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 53 |
02:30-03:00 | 4 | 33 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 53 |
03:00-03:30 | 4 | 33 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 53 |
03:30-04:00 | 4 | 33 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 53 |
04:00-04:30 | 4 | 33 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 52 |
04:30-05:00 | 4 | 34 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 52 |
05:00-05:30 | 4 | 34 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 51 |
05:30-06:00 | 4 | 35 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 51 |
06:00-06:30 | 4 | 39 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 48 |
06:30-07:00 | 4 | 41 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 46 |
07:00-07:30 | 4 | 44 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 43 |
07:30-08:00 | 4 | 46 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 41 |
08:00-08:30 | 4 | 46 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 40 |
08:30-09:00 | 4 | 46 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 39 |
09:00-09:30 | 4 | 46 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 38 |
09:30-10:00 | 4 | 46 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 38 |
10:00-10:30 | 4 | 46 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 38 |
10:30-11:00 | 4 | 45 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 39 |
11:00-11:30 | 4 | 45 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 40 |
11:30-12:00 | 4 | 44 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 40 |
12:00-12:30 | 4 | 44 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 41 |
12:30-13:00 | 4 | 44 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 41 |
13:00-13:30 | 4 | 43 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 42 |
13:30-14:00 | 4 | 43 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 42 |
14:00-14:30 | 4 | 45 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 41 |
14:30-15:00 | 4 | 46 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 41 |
15:00-15:30 | 4 | 47 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 40 |
15:30-16:00 | 4 | 48 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 39 |
16:00-16:30 | 4 | 48 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 38 |
16:30-17:00 | 5 | 48 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 36 |
17:00-17:30 | 5 | 47 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 36 |
17:30-18:00 | 5 | 46 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 36 |
18:00-18:30 | 5 | 45 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 37 |
18:30-19:00 | 4 | 45 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 38 |
19:00-19:30 | 4 | 46 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 39 |
19:30-20:00 | 4 | 45 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 40 |
20:00-20:30 | 4 | 45 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 41 |
20:30-21:00 | 3 | 45 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 41 |
21:00-21:30 | 3 | 45 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 42 |
21:30-22:00 | 3 | 43 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 44 |
22:00-22:30 | 3 | 41 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 46 |
22:30-23:00 | 4 | 39 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 47 |
23:00-23:30 | 4 | 39 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 48 |
23:30-24:00 | 4 | 38 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 49 |
The amount of metered electricity generated from Wind farms varies substantially throughout the year. In January 2023, 1.2 million MWh were generated by Wind which was more than twice the 0.6 million MWh generated during June (See Table 4B and Figure 4). February was the month with the highest amount of Wind generated electricity in each of the years 2020 to 2022 (See Figure 4).
2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
January | 1260839 | 986100 | 1023025 | 1226819 |
February | 1589648 | 1403381 | 1549488 | 1121321 |
March | 1239618 | 1004358 | 963955 | 1139129 |
April | 607100 | 672878 | 859288 | 944095 |
May | 819394 | 773168 | 869679 | 579223 |
June | 775125 | 627494 | 741540 | 552350 |
July | 810722 | 317264 | 527659 | 887836 |
August | 669058 | 569234 | 521486 | 895663 |
September | 804480 | 540086 | 654946 | 859628 |
October | 1192174 | 961004 | 1262786 | 844081 |
November | 1103330 | 965880 | 1349075 | 1147793 |
December | 1295945 | 1268798 | 1047832 |
There were 120,910 MWh generated from Renewable Hydro in January 2023 (See Table 4D). This was the highest month so far in 2023. The next highest month was November when there were 114,791 MWh generated.
Renewable Hydro | Solar | Waste | |
January | 120910 | 4140 | 53347 |
February | 54962 | 10150 | 38170 |
March | 81583 | 17171 | 47352 |
April | 85664 | 36344 | 46855 |
May | 40225 | 65690 | 55514 |
June | 7704 | 68120 | 43810 |
July | 59908 | 63630 | 37067 |
August | 89005 | 59179 | 56847 |
September | 55325 | 44701 | 52547 |
October | 101217 | 36656 | 56588 |
November | 114791 | 22584 | 48877 |
The months with the lowest half-hourly proportion of renewable metered electricity at 23% were May 2023 between 7:30am and 8:30am and June between 8:30pm and 9:30pm (See Table 5A). The monthly half-hourly periods in 2023 with the highest proportion of renewable metered electricity generation were between 1:30am and 4am for November when the share was 59% in four out of the five half-hourly periods (See Table 5A).
2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
00:00-00:30 | 46 | 40 | 42 | 44 |
00:30-01:00 | 46 | 40 | 42 | 44 |
01:00-01:30 | 47 | 40 | 42 | 45 |
01:30-02:00 | 47 | 41 | 43 | 45 |
02:00-02:30 | 47 | 41 | 43 | 46 |
02:30-03:00 | 47 | 41 | 43 | 46 |
03:00-03:30 | 47 | 41 | 43 | 46 |
03:30-04:00 | 46 | 41 | 43 | 46 |
04:00-04:30 | 46 | 41 | 42 | 46 |
04:30-05:00 | 45 | 40 | 42 | 45 |
05:00-05:30 | 44 | 39 | 41 | 44 |
05:30-06:00 | 43 | 38 | 39 | 43 |
06:00-06:30 | 43 | 37 | 38 | 42 |
06:30-07:00 | 42 | 36 | 37 | 41 |
07:00-07:30 | 41 | 35 | 36 | 39 |
07:30-08:00 | 40 | 34 | 35 | 38 |
08:00-08:30 | 39 | 33 | 34 | 38 |
08:30-09:00 | 39 | 33 | 35 | 38 |
09:00-09:30 | 40 | 33 | 35 | 38 |
09:30-10:00 | 40 | 33 | 35 | 39 |
10:00-10:30 | 40 | 33 | 36 | 40 |
10:30-11:00 | 41 | 34 | 36 | 42 |
11:00-11:30 | 41 | 34 | 37 | 43 |
11:30-12:00 | 41 | 35 | 37 | 44 |
12:00-12:30 | 42 | 35 | 38 | 44 |
12:30-13:00 | 43 | 36 | 39 | 45 |
13:00-13:30 | 43 | 36 | 39 | 46 |
13:30-14:00 | 44 | 37 | 39 | 47 |
14:00-14:30 | 44 | 37 | 39 | 47 |
14:30-15:00 | 43 | 37 | 39 | 47 |
15:00-15:30 | 43 | 36 | 38 | 47 |
15:30-16:00 | 42 | 35 | 37 | 46 |
16:00-16:30 | 41 | 34 | 37 | 45 |
16:30-17:00 | 40 | 33 | 36 | 43 |
17:00-17:30 | 39 | 33 | 35 | 42 |
17:30-18:00 | 39 | 32 | 35 | 40 |
18:00-18:30 | 39 | 32 | 34 | 39 |
18:30-19:00 | 39 | 33 | 35 | 39 |
19:00-19:30 | 39 | 33 | 34 | 39 |
19:30-20:00 | 40 | 34 | 35 | 39 |
20:00-20:30 | 40 | 34 | 35 | 39 |
20:30-21:00 | 41 | 36 | 36 | 39 |
21:00-21:30 | 42 | 36 | 37 | 39 |
21:30-22:00 | 43 | 38 | 38 | 40 |
22:00-22:30 | 45 | 39 | 39 | 41 |
22:30-23:00 | 45 | 39 | 40 | 43 |
23:00-23:30 | 46 | 40 | 41 | 44 |
23:30-24:00 | 46 | 40 | 42 | 44 |
The percentage of metered electricity generated from Gas in November 2023 was highest at 48% between 3:30pm and 5pm (See Table 5B and Figure 3). The monthly half-hourly periods during January to November 2023 with the highest share of metered electricity generation by Natural Gas were between 7am and 8:30am in May at 67% (See Table 5B). The time periods with the lowest Natural Gas share were between 1:30am and 4:30am in November at 33%.
The monthly half-hourly periods in 2023 with the highest share of metered electricity generation by Wind were between 1:30am and 4am in November at 53% (See Table 5C and Figure 3). The time periods with the lowest Wind share in 2023 were between 8am and 9am in May at 18%.
There were around 500 metered electricity generation plants connected to the national grid during January to November 2023 (See Table 6). A power plant was calculated on the basis of its unique identification number. The unique ID is changed when a plant is sold so the same location could be counted more than once. Wind farms accounted for 62% of power plants in January to November 2023. In 2022, 15 Solar farms were connected to the grid and this increased to 20 in 2023.
For January to November 2023 a total of 401,566 MWh were exported (See Table 7A). Imports increased considerably in 2023 to 3.4 million MWh for January to November - total imports in 2022 were 1.6 million MWh (See Table 7B).
Exports | Imports | |
2015 | 1078604 | 1751974 |
2016 | 1583011 | 871294 |
2017 | 1794910 | 1116408 |
2018 | 1649249 | 1621519 |
2019 | 1535038 | 2179579 |
2020 | 1913096 | 1761447 |
2021 | 863329 | 2450923 |
2022 | 1329732 | 1581628 |
2023 | 401566 | 3433723 |
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (17 January 2024) published Metered Electricity Generation for November 2023.
Commenting on the release Dympna Corry, Statistician in the Environment and Climate Division, said: "The data show the amount of metered electricity generated in each half-hour period classified by the main fuel used in each power plant to generate the electricity. The release shows how the proportion of metered electricity generated from renewable fuel sources (Wind, Solar, Renewable Hydro, and Other Renewable) varies by time of day and by month. A higher proportion of fossil fuels was required to meet peak electricity demand around 5pm to 6pm.”
Monthly and Year-to-date Peak Demand
For the first 11 months of 2023, peak electricity demand exceeded 650,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) in seven half-hourly periods (See Table 4A and Figure 1). These seven periods all occurred between 4:30pm and 8pm. The highest 30-minute period over the aggregated 11 months was between 6pm and 6:30pm at 680,433 MWh. The time period with the highest half-hourly generation within a single month was in January 2023 when 73,791 MWh were generated between 5:30pm and 6pm.
Natural Gas and Wind
Natural Gas and Wind dominate the generation of electricity. They often move in opposite directions so that on days where a high proportion of electricity is generated from Wind, there is a substantial decrease in the amount generated from Natural Gas. In November 2023, Gas and Wind both accounted for 43% of metered electricity generation (See Table 1A). The overall rates for January to November 2023 were 49% for Gas and 37% for Wind (See Table 2).
Solar Farms
Metered electricity generated from Solar farms increased from 20,120 MWh in 2022 to 428,364 MWh for the first 11 months of 2023 (See Table 2). June was the month with most generation from Solar farms with 68,120 MWh (See Table 1B). Only Gas (1,358,163 MWh), Wind (552,350 MWh), and Coal (99,594 MWh) generated more electricity during June 2023.
The monthly half-hourly period in 2023 with the highest amount of metered electricity generated from Solar farms occurred between 2pm and 2:30pm in May with a monthly figure of 3,505 MWh for that 30-minute period (See Table 4C). The highest half-hourly period for Solar farm generation in November 2023 was between 11:30am and 12 noon at 2,179 MWh.
Electricity generated by households and enterprises, primarily for own consumption, is not included in this release (e.g. household rooftop panels).
Renewable Hydro
There was 928,144 MWh of metered electricity generated by Renewable Hydro in 2020 which was the highest in the 2020-2023 time series (See Table 2). For the first 11 months of 2023, there were 811,295 MWh generated.
In 2023, January was the month with the highest generation from Renewable Hydro at 120,910 MWh (See Table 1B). November with 114,791 MWh and October with 101,217 MWh were the next two highest months for electricity generation from Renewable Hydro in 2023.
For the first 11 months of 2023, Renewable Hydro was the fourth highest fuel source for metered electricity generation with 811,295 MWh compared with 536,974 MWh for waste and 428,364 MWh for Solar farms (See Table 2).
Monthly Renewable Hydro generation exceeded that of Solar farms for January to April 2023 and for August to November 2023 (See Table 1B).
Coal
Electricity generated from Coal increased from 723,440 MWh in 2020 to 2.8 million MWh in 2021 and 2.5 million MWh in 2022 (See Table 2). The January to November 2023 electricity generation from Coal was 1.1 million MWh.
Exports and Imports of Electricity
For January to November 2023, 0.4 million MWh were exported which was well below the 2022 annual figure of 1.3 million MWh (See Table 7A). There has been a sharp increase in Imports of electricity in 2023 with the January to November total of 3.4 million MWh being more than double the full year 2022 figure of 1.6 million MWh (See Table 7B).