Record amount of solar energy produced by June sunshine

Ellen O'Donoghue

June's sunshine produced a record amount of solar energy, according to EirGrid.

Overall, 42 per cent of electricity came from renewable sources in June, according to the figures.

It comes after six weather stations broke their all-time maximum temperature records during the month of June.

The provisional data saw a record amount of solar energy on Ireland's power system, contributing 8.2 per cent to the overall fuel mix.

This compares to 7.8 per cent in May and 5.3 per cent in June 2025.

Wind energy also accounted for a significant share of renewable energy for the month, at 30.7 per cent.

Total generation of wind amounted to 821 GWh (Gigawatt hours).

Elsewhere in June, gas generation accounted for 40 per cent of all electricity used, and 17 per cent was imported via interconnection.

The overall electricity system demand stood at 2,676 GWh in June, compared to 2,794 GWh in May.

EirGrid has said it is aiming to enable the power system to be capable of operating with up to 95 per cent renewable sources at any one time by 2030 and 100 per cent by 2035.

Currently, up to 75 per cent of electricity can be generated from renewables at any one time.

Charlie McGee, EirGrid’s System Operational Manager, said that June was yet another record month for the amount of solar energy powering the electricity system in Ireland.

“While this might have been expected given the sunny weather that we saw during the month, it is also reflective of the progress that we have made in integrating large grid-scale solar farms onto the system.

"It follows a number of other solar related records so far this year, including reaching a peak of over 1 GW of electricity provided by grid-scale solar power.”