Ireland

Ireland will launch its fifth renewables auction on May 29, with grid operator EirGrid set to finalize the procurement process by Oct. 10.

Rooftop and small-scale ground mounted solar systems in Ireland have set a new monthly record for electricity production, generating a total of 66 GWh of electricity in April. So far, in 2025 just over 137 GWh of electricity has come from distributed solar systems.

Government-run Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) is tendering for the provision of technical and advisory support services for its grant programs aimed at organizations in Ireland planning to decarbonize. The tender follows a report by the SEAI that showed Ireland has a limited market for industrial heat pumps and called for greater outreach and support for businesses to install the technology.

March 2025 was a record month for solar generation on Ireland’s electricity grid, according to provisional real-time data from the country’s transmission systems operator EirGrid. Solar accounted for 2.8% of the country’s total electricity generation during March.

The Greenlink Interconnector comprises two high-voltage direct current (HVDC) cables reaching across the Irish Sea connecting the grids of Ireland and the United Kingdom at the Great Island substation in County Wexford and Pembroke substation in Pembrokeshire, Wales.

Developer Shannon LNG has obtained permission from the Irish planning authorities for a 600 MW regasification unit and a 120 MW battery energy storage system (BESS) in County Kerry. It is unclear when the plant will be built. Renewable energy advocates and opposition politicians are calling on the state to overturn the permit, citing Shannon LNG’s separate plans to construct a controversial LNG terminal near the gas plant.

Northern Ireland turned down 16.9% of its solar in 2024, up from 7.9% in 2023.

According to data from a newly launched tracker tool by Kilowatt.ie for small-scale solar in Ireland, capacity has grown from 20 MW in 2019 to 500 MW currently. Growth has surged since 2022, thanks to policy changes.

The Irish government is appealing to schools to apply for the second round of its solar for schools program before the March 7 deadline. More than 750 schools have been approved for funding in this phase to date.

Researchers in Ireland have proposed, for the first time, a deterministic approach for designing inverter loading ratio (ILR) in utility-scale PV projects. The novel methodology is claimed to simplify the design process and reduce performance variability, while enhancing investment certainty.