Grid-scale solar farms generated 1.1 GWh of electricity in 2025, 4% of the total and a 51% increase compared with 2024. Electricity storage output from pumped hydro and batteries contributed a small share. Coal fired power plant generation, meanwhile, decreased its share by 52% from 2024.
Half of Ireland’s grid-scale electricity generated in 2025 was from renewable sources, with grid-scale solar farms accounting for 4% of the total, according to newly released statistics from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
Grid-scale solar farms are increasing their share of the generation burden, providing 1,101 GWh of electricity generation in 2025 – a 51% increase compared with 2024. Grid-scale solar farms surpassed the 1 GW generation mark in April 2026, and at the time Irish grid operator EirGrid estimated this was sufficient to meet around 500,000 customers’ power needs.
By the end of 2026, Ireland’s connected solar capacity is expected to exceed 3.3 GW and as of recent reports by pv magazine it is almost at 3 GW. Most recently, the government said the figure was over 2.6 GW.
Grid-scale solar generation reached its highest all-time peak of 1.26 GW on 11 August 2026, just before 1 p.m. During that time, solar accounted for around a third of all electricity usage nationally.
