The highest demand ever for natural gas in the Republic of Ireland was recorded on 8 January 2025, with 9 January seeing the third-highest demand.

This is according to Gas Networks Ireland, which explained that the demand was driven by a combination of high gas usage for electricity generation and low temperatures.

In a cool and sunny month, with record-breaking gusts due to storm Éowyn, overall gas demand increased by 17% in January compared with December. Year on year, the increase was 5%.

Electricity generation

The latest gas demand report shows that gas played a critical role in Ireland’s electricity generation in January, contributing 44% to the overall electricity generation - up from 38% in December and two percentage points higher than January 2024.

Gas generation peaked at 83% last month and never dropped below 11%.

Despite the record-breaking gusts, wind energy’s contribution fell from 41% in December to 33% in January 2025 - with a peak contribution of 77% - but, at times, it fell away completely, generating less than one percent.

Storm Éowyn

During storm Éowyn, which severely affected some parts of the country on 24 January, gas provided 42% of electricity generation, while wind contributed 36%.

Between 20 and 22 January, gas accounted for 68% of electricity generation (peaking at 83%), while wind contributed just 5% during this period of high demand.