{"id":506143,"date":"2026-06-18T13:37:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T13:37:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/506143\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T13:37:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T13:37:16","slug":"solar-power-capacity-in-ireland-increases-by-300","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/506143\/","title":{"rendered":"Solar power capacity in Ireland increases by 300%"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Ireland&#8217;s solar power capacity has increased by almost 300 per cent in three years, according to figures published in a report by Solar Ireland.<\/p>\n<p>The Scale of Solar report indicates that Ireland had a total connected solar capacity which reached 2.7 GW by the end of May 2026, an increase of almost 300 per cent since 2023.<\/p>\n<p>The report shows that in the 12 months to the end of May solar generated more than 1.17 terawatt-hours of electricity across Ireland.<\/p>\n<p>The equivalent of 460,000 homes were powered by Ireland\u2019s total connected solar capacity whilst total connected solar capacity increased by nearly 1 GW in a single year. During May solar achieved 37.1 per cent peak instantaneous contribution to electricity.<\/p>\n<p>When it comes to rooftop solar adoption, Clare is leading the way on a county-by-county basis, with 51 rooftop solar systems per 1,000 people.<\/p>\n<p>190,000 plus homes and businesses are now generating their own electricity.<\/p>\n<p>Meath remains the leader with Wexford in second place and Cork in third. Ireland\u2019s total connected solar capacity is now predicted to exceed 3.3 GW by year-end.<\/p>\n<p>Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment Darragh O\u2019Brien launched the report at Government Buildings.<\/p>\n<p>He said that the findings highlight both the progress achieved and the opportunities ahead.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe growth of solar energy in Ireland is one of the clearest examples of how our energy transition is moving from ambition to delivery.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In just 12 months, Ireland added 1 GW of solar capacity, helping to strengthen Ireland&#8217;s energy resilience, reduce emissions and increase the share of domestically generated renewable electricity on our system.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;As electricity demand continues to grow, driven by electrification across homes, transport and industry, investment in renewable energy infrastructure will be essential.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Solar is already making an increasingly important contribution to Ireland&#8217;s electricity system and will continue to play a key role in supporting energy resilience, economic competitiveness and a sustainable energy future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>CEO of Solar Ireland Ronan Power says this year\u2019s figures represent a true milestone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIreland\u2019s solar story is no longer defined solely by ambition. It is increasingly defined by delivery.<\/p>\n<p>In the past year alone, Ireland added almost 1 GW of solar capacity, while solar generation and deployment records have continued to be broken across the country. Solar is now making a meaningful contribution to homes, farms, schools, businesses and communities nationwide.<\/p>\n<p>Maintaining this momentum will require continued collaboration across industry, Government, regulators and system operators. Grid infrastructure, planning processes, workforce capacity, market design and public participation will all play a critical role in determining how quickly Ireland can continue scaling solar generation.<\/p>\n<p>The progress achieved to date demonstrates what is possible when policy, investment and delivery align. The opportunity now is to build on that foundation and ensure solar continues to play a growing role in Ireland&#8217;s energy future. \u201d<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"not-prose no-underline\" data-action=\"click\" data-category=\"Read more article clicked\" data-label=\"https:\/\/www.breakingnews.ie\/ireland\/young-woman-died-from-rare-form-of-sepsis-arising-from-sports-injury-1915334.html\" data-value=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.breakingnews.ie\/ireland\/young-woman-died-from-rare-form-of-sepsis-arising-from-sports-injury-1915334.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>        <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2-77101266.jpg\" class=\"rounded-sm object-contain bg-transparent z-10 w-full h-full not-prose\" alt=\"Young Woman Died From Rare Form Of Sepsis Arising From Sports Injury\" width=\"278\" height=\"156\" \/><\/p>\n<p>        Ireland<\/p>\n<p>Young woman died from rare form of sepsis arising from sports injury<\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Nicholas Tarrant, Managing Director, ESB Networks, paid tribute to the collective effort achieving so much in the solar industry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe continued rapid growth in both utility-scale solar projects and rooftop solar installations over recent years is a powerful reflection of the contribution individuals, communities and renewable project developers are making to supporting our climate goals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The electricity network now supports 2.7 GW of solar generation, from large utility-scale developments to domestic rooftop systems.<\/p>\n<p>Each year, approximately 50,000 new solar installations are completed across homes, farms, businesses and communities throughout the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ireland&#8217;s solar power capacity has increased by almost 300 per cent in three years, according to figures published&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":506144,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-506143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=506143"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506143\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/506144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=506143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=506143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=506143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}