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Networked Gas Daily Supply and Demand January-March 2026

Gas demand by Power Plants was 8% lower in March 2026 compared with March 2025

Online ISSN: 2990-8299
CSO statistical release, , 11am

Key Findings

  • In the first three months of 2026, Indigenous Production of gas was down 16% and imports were up 5% compared with the same period in 2025 (See Table A).

  • Imports represented 86% of total gas supply in the first quarter of 2026, with Indigenous Gas Production accounting for the remaining 14% (See Table 1A and Figure 1).

  • In the first quarter of 2026, gas demand by Power Plants was 2% higher compared with the same period in 2025 (See Table A).

  • In March 2026, Indigenous Production of gas was 17% lower and imports fell 1%, compared with March 2025 (See Tables 1A, 1B, and Figure 1).

  • Total gas demand in March 2026 was 4% lower than in March 2025 (See Table 2B).

  • Gas demand by Power Plants was 8% lower in March 2026 compared with March 2025 (See Table 2B).

Statistician's Comment

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (14 August 2026) published Networked Gas Daily Supply and Demand January-March 2026.

Commenting on the release, Orla Fallon, Statistician in the Climate and Energy Division, said: This release contains new data covering the period January to March (Q1) 2026. In Q1 2026, total networked gas supply was 1% higher compared with the same period in 2025 (See Table A). 

Quarterly Comparisons

Indigenous Production of gas was down 16% and imports were up 5% in Q1 2026 compared with the same period in 2025 (See Table A). 

Comparing the first quarter of 2026 with the same period in 2025, networked gas demand by customer category showed the following trends: Power Plants (+2%), Large Daily Metered (+2%), Non-Daily Metered (+0.5%), and Daily Metered (-3%) (See Tables A and 2B).

Power Plants accounted for 58% of total gas demand in Q1 2026, while Non-Daily Metered customers, who are largely domestic users and small businesses, represented 27% of total gas demand, over the same period (See Table 2A and Figure 2).

March 2026 Trends

Total networked gas supply in March 2026 was 4% lower than in March 2025 (See Tables 1A and 1B). 

In March 2026, Indigenous Production of gas was 17% lower and imports fell 1%, compared with March 2025 (See Tables 1B, and Figure 1). 

Total gas demand in March 2026 was 4,671 GWh which was 4% lower than the March 2025 figure of 4,851 GWh (See Table 2B). 

In March 2026, gas demand by Power Plants was 8% lower compared with March 2025, and 4% higher when compared with March 2024 (See Table 2B).

In March 2026, Power Plants accounted for 57% of total gas demand, while Non-Daily Metered customers represented 25% of total gas demand (See Figure 2 and Tables 2A and 2B)."

Editor's Note

This release contains data covering the period January to March 2026, to ensure users have access to the data as timely as possible. The frequency of this release, going forward, is anticipated to be on a monthly basis.

In Q1 2026, Indigenous Production of gas was down 16% and Imports were up 5% compared with the same period in 2025

In the first three months of 2026, Gas Imports were 5% higher and Indigenous Production of gas was down 16% compared with the same period in 2025. Gas demand by Power Plants was 1.7% lower when comparing the 12-month rolling period of April 2025-March 2026 with April 2024-March 2025 (See Table A).

Table A: Networked Gas Supply and Demand Percentage Changes March 2026
CategoryYear-to-Date January-March 2026/202512-Month Rolling Period April-March 2026/2025
Total Networked Gas Supply1.3%-2.3%
Indigenous Production-16.0%-16.5%
Imports4.7%1.2%
   
Total Networked Gas Demand1.4%-1.7%
Power Plants2.2%-1.7%
Non-Daily Metered0.5%-4.0%
Large Daily Metered1.9%4.8%
Daily Metered-2.9%-6.0%

Monthly Gas Supply and Demand Trends Jan-March 2026

In March 2026, imports represented 85% of total gas supply with Indigenous Production of gas accounting for the remaining 15%. In comparison, imports in March 2023, represented 79% of total gas supply with Indigenous Production of gas accounting for the remaining 21% (See Figure 1 and Table 1B).

Figure 1: Monthly Networked Gas Supply by Supply Source January 2023-March 2026
Figure 2: Monthly Networked Gas Demand by Customer Type January 2023-March 2026
Table 1A Monthly Networked Gas Supply by Supply Source (Gigawatt hours) January 2025-March 2026
Table 1B Monthly Networked Gas Supply by Supply Source (Gigawatt hours) March 2018-March 2026
Table 2A Monthly Networked Gas Demand by Customer Type (Gigawatt hours) January 2025-March 2026
Table 2B Monthly Networked Gas Demand by Customer Type (Gigawatt hours) March 2018-March 2026

Daily Gas Supply and Demand Trends January-March 2026

In the first quarter of 2026, demand by Power Plants was 2% higher compared with the same period in 2025 (See Figure 3 and Table A).

Figure 3: Daily Networked Gas Demand by Power Plants January-March 2026

Annual Gas Supply and Demand Trends 2018-2025

Comparing the year 2025 with 2024, networked gas demand was lower for three of the four customer types: Power Plants were 1% lower, Non-Daily Metered customers saw a 5% decrease, Daily Metered customers were down 5%, and Large Daily Metered and customers increased by 4%. Overall total gas demand was down 1.5% compared with 2024 (See Tables A and 3B).

Figure 4: Annual Networked Gas Supply by Supply Source 2018-2025
Figure 5: Annual Networked Gas Demand by Customer Type 2018-2025
Table 3A: Annual Networked Gas Supply by Supply Source (Gigawatt hours) 2018-2025
Table 3B: Annual Networked Gas Demand by Customer Type (Gigawatt hours) 2018-2025

Mean Wind Speed at Valentia Observatory March 2026

March 2026 showed a higher mean wind speed than March 2025. This was likely a contributing factor to gas demand by Power Plants being 8% lower in March 2026 compared with March 2025 (See Figure 6, and Table 4). In Ireland, the Gas Day begins at 05:00 and ends at 05:00 on the following day.

Power Plants (GWh)Mean Wind Speed (Knots)
1 March54.60388815.8
2 March95.5962498.6
3 March110.9761114.7
4 March97.0386127.2
5 March105.62680410.3
6 March105.0093057
7 March70.59986112.7
8 March88.3691668.9
9 March102.9280568.5
10 March65.56444514.6
11 March58.40791616.5
12 March58.80180421.1
13 March90.17458117
14 March93.4108347.6
15 March54.20194417.2
16 March60.70166615
17 March79.58611112.8
18 March106.9888896.7
19 March118.495144.5
20 March129.1155574.3
21 March106.8152784.3
22 March116.6229164.8
23 March90.7859
24 March61.77597221.2
25 March69.80486216.3
26 March110.6763889.5
27 March86.59958310.1
28 March60.0810.6
29 March56.15333413
30 March82.5419447.1
31 March89.9983338.2
Table 4 Met Éireann Daily Mean Wind Speed at Valentia Observatory March 2018-2026

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