Grid-scale solar generation in Ireland rose 58% across June, July and August 2026 compared with the same period in 2025, reaching 692GWh. The increase pushed solar to a record 9.4% share of the monthly fuel mix in July, cementing its place as a mainstream contributor to the grid rather than a marginal summer source.

EirGrid, the state-owned operator of Ireland's transmission grid and a subsidiary of ESB Group, published the provisional figures, which showed solar contributing 7.7% of the fuel mix in August after 8.2% in June, with almost a third of the month's electricity coming from renewable sources overall. Ireland's total connected solar capacity had already reached 2.7GW by the end of May, up almost 300% since 2023, according to Solar Ireland's Scale of Solar 2026 report.

The structural driver is the pace of new grid-scale solar capacity coming online through Ireland's renewable electricity support scheme pipeline, which is now large enough to set successive generation records within a single season. August alone saw two new peaks for grid-scale solar output, reaching 1.25GW on 11 August and 1.3GW on 24 August, surpassing the previous record of 1.22GW set in May and the first 1GW peak recorded in April.

Wind remained the larger renewable source in August, contributing 18% of the fuel mix from 498GWh of generation, while gas accounted for 42% of electricity used and 26% was imported via interconnection. Overall system demand reached 2,796GWh in August, up from 2,744GWh in July.

Diarmaid Gillespie, EirGrid's director of system operations, said "spring and summer 2026 has been a significant time for the contribution of solar powered energy in Ireland," pointing to April's first 1GW grid-scale solar milestone as evidence of "the progress that we are making towards a more sustainable electricity grid."

For the sector, successive summer records show solar is now large enough to materially reshape Ireland's fuel mix during peak generation months, adding pressure on grid operators to manage variability as capacity continues to scale.

Source: renews.biz / rte.ie / irishtechnews.ie