Saturday, 20 June 2026

Ireland's grid-scale solar PV fleet pushed past 1 GW of instantaneous generation for the first time in mid-April 2026, transmission operator Eirgrid reported.

Eirgrid logged the first record at 1,021 MW on Monday, April 20 at 12.19 pm. The mark fell on April 24, when output hit 1,087 MW, and again the following day at 1,133 MW.

The peaks sit on top of a gradual climb in solar's share of demand. Metered Eirgrid data showed grid-scale solar covered 3.1% of Irish electricity demand in 2025, against 2% in 2024 and 1.1% in 2023.

Installed capacity is doing the work. Solar Ireland put cumulative PV across all segments at more than 2.3 GW as of December 2025, with 1 GW added during 2025 and a grid-scale development pipeline of about 1.7 GW.

The grid is struggling to absorb it. A Montel Energy report found Ireland curtailed almost 89 GWh of solar generation in the first half of 2025, and said solar curtailment had risen seven-fold since 2022.

Regulators moved in the same month as the generation record. The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) ruled in April that renewable projects can share a single grid connection, opening the door for co-located solar and battery sites to sit behind one connection point. On April 23 at the WindEurope conference in Madrid, Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment Darragh O'Brien signed a memorandum of understanding with Spain to explore an electricity interconnector between the two countries and extended Ireland's existing energy transition agreement with the United Kingdom.

U.S. developers are on track to bring 86 GW of new utility-scale capacity online in 2026, a record pace driven by solar and battery storage, the Energy Information Administration reported in late April, according to pv magazine.

Solar leads the build. Planned utility-scale solar additions reach 43.4 GW for the year, 60% above 2025 installations.

Battery storage is set for its own record. The 24 GW of utility-scale storage scheduled for 2026 compares with 15 GW commissioned the prior year. EIA expects total U.S. battery capacity to climb from 44.6 GW to above 67 GW by the close of Q1 2027.

Texas dominates the storage map at 12.9 GW, 53% of new capacity, with California next at 3.4 GW (14%) and Arizona at 3.2 GW (13%).

Wind is also rebounding after a stretch of weaker years. Planned additions of 11.8 GW would more than double the prior pace and include two offshore projects: Vineyard Wind 1 at 800 MW and Revolution Wind at 715 MW.

Generation data through the first two months of 2026 already reflect the buildout, with renewable output up 10.8% year-on-year and supplying 26% of total U.S. electricity, per EIA figures cited by pv magazine.

Lucara Botswana, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lucara Diamond Corp., has launched a tender for a 30 MW solar project to supply the Karowe diamond mine in northcentral Botswana, according to pv magazine.

The project may be split into two phases. The first phase covers 20 MW of grid-tied solar. The second adds 10 MW of solar paired with a 20 MWh battery energy storage system.

Qualified developers have until July 10 to submit an expression of interest, pv magazine reported. The targeted commercial operation date is 2027 to 2028.

The Karowe mine opened in 2012 and currently runs on grid electricity and diesel generation. A behind-the-meter solar build would displace part of that diesel load and hedge the mine's exposure to grid tariffs over the asset's life.

Market context

Botswana's installed solar base remains small. The Africa Solar Industry Association has tracked 184.7 MW of operational solar in the country, of which 27.7 MW sits in the commercial and industrial segment, according to figures in its online database cited by pv magazine.

At 30 MW, the Karowe tender alone would expand that commercial and industrial segment by more than the current installed total in that bucket. Mining loads are among the largest single off-takers in southern Africa, and captive renewables procurement by miners has become a recurring route to market across the region as grid reliability and diesel costs pressure operating margins.

The inclusion of a 20 MWh battery in the second phase signals an intent to extend solar dispatch beyond daylight hours at the site, though the tender documents released so far do not specify dispatch profiles or offtake structure.