Storms Isha and Jocelyn lead to record wind energy creation
Eirgrid confirms record energy demand last week due to freezing weather
Two storms in a matter of days has led to record electricity generation from wind.
Storm Isha battered the country on Sunday with Storm Jocelyn sweeping in behind on Tuesday afternoon.
Over last weekend, 72% of electricity demand was met by winds associated with Storm Isha.
And as the country braced itself for Storm Jocelyn, indicators showed that wind energy power could break previous records.
The news comes after it emerged last week that freezing temperatures had led to record energy demand in the country, as people used extra electricity to heat their homes.
EirGrid, responsible for operating, developing and enhancing the electricity grid and market, has confirmed that Ireland recorded new record peaks for electricity demand last week due to the cold weather.
At 5.50pm on Thursday 18 January, electricity demand reached a record peak of 5577 megawatts (MW).
This breached other peaks in electricity demand recorded on Monday and Wednesday of this week. Before this week, the previous record peak demand of 5544 MW occurred on 14 December 2022.
EirGrid operates the electricity grid from a National Control Centre in Dublin, carrying out the complex task of matching electricity supply to customer demand in real time.
User demand varies on a daily, weekly and seasonal basis.