Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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94. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will outline the total renewable electricity generation capacity connected to the national grid for each of the past ten years, as of Q3 2025, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [64292/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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The Programme for Government 2025 reaffirmed Ireland’s targets of 80% of electricity demand to be met by renewable energy sources, including a target of 9GW of onshore wind and 8 GW of solar generation as part of a strategy to decarbonise our power system.

Ireland currently has circa 7 GW of renewable generation capacity, up from 2.4 GW in 2015. Onshore wind is the largest contributor with circa 5.1 GW of capacity. This is complemented by circa 2 GW of solar PV capacity, with hydro, biomass, and other small sources contributing the remainder.

The attached table details the renewable electricity generation capacity connected to the national grid for each of the past ten years. Also included are the non-grid renewables, including rooftop solar.

The Accelerating Renewable Electricity Taskforce was established to accelerate and increase the deployment of onshore renewable electricity generation. This cross-Government Taskforce is tasked with identifying and prioritising the policies needed to achieve our onshore renewable electricity targets and ensuring that barriers are removed or minimised to the greatest extent possible.

Renewable electricity projects make a significant contribution to communities across Ireland through job creation, community benefit funds, and revenue to Local Authorities which is reinvested in local communities and services.

Key policies, such as the onshore Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS), Offshore Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (ORESS), the Small-scale Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (SRESS), have been instrumental in providing a supportive policy environment for Ireland’s growing renewables sector.

The fifth onshore RESS auction, RESS 5, was completed in September with the Final Results published in October 2025. The RESS 5 results represent a major boost for Ireland’s energy transition, securing enough clean renewable electricity to power over 350,000 Irish homes annually through the development of new indigenous onshore wind and solar capacity. The RESS 5 auction delivered competitive outcomes, with the average RESS 5 price approximately €20/MWh below 2025 average wholesale electricity prices to date.