Renewables provided over 40% of electricity in October

New provisional data from EirGrid shows that 43% of electricity in October came from renewable sources.

The majority of renewable energy generated last month came from windfarms, which accounted for 36% of all electricity used in Ireland. Meanwhile, grid-scale solar made up around 2%.2

Total generation from wind energy amounted to 1073 GWh (Gigawatt hours) in October, compared to 920 GWh in September.

Electricity system demand for the month stood at 2969 GWh, up slightly from September.3

This compares with official metered data which shows that system demand in October 2024 was 2,877 GWh. This data also shows that 41.5% of electricity came from renewables, with 35% of demand being met by wind energy and 1.1% from grid-scale solar, in October last year.

Gas generation accounted for 39% of all electricity used in October and 16% was imported via interconnection.

EirGrid recently released its annual Winter Outlook which helps to inform the electricity industry and supports preparation for the coming months. The 2025/26 report covers the period from 3 November 2025 to 5 April 2026.

The analysis of Ireland’s peak demand over winter indicates that a 1°C decrease in outside temperature results in a 55 MW increase in peak demand, reflecting the fact that electricity demand is heavily influenced by weather conditions.

Commenting on the data, Diarmaid Gillespie, Director of System Operations at EirGrid, said:

“Wind energy accounted for the majority of renewable generation in October, with total generation from wind energy amounting to 1,073 GWh (Gigawatt hours) over the month.

“As we would expect at this time of year, we saw an increase in demand for electricity as we head into the colder months and darker evenings. We recently released our Winter Outlook, which forecast that there will be adequate generation capacity and a reduced risk of system alerts in the coming months.”