Highest ever demand for electricity in Ireland recorded yesterday evening

Cold weather, data centres and Christmas lights help drive record surge

Christmas lights contributed to record demand, surpassing the previous high set in 2010. Picture: Getty

Ireland experienced its highest ever demand for electricity yesterday evening, the Business Post has learned.

Driven by cold weather, industry activity and even Christmas lights, a new peak demand for electricity was hit in Ireland of 5,112 megawatts (MW) on Thursday evening. This broke the previous record of 5,090 MW, set back in 2010.

EirGrid spokesperson David Martin said that the level of electricity demand had been trending upwards over the last week.

“Our engineers ...