Wholesale Electricity Prices in Ireland Rise 76.9% Year on Year in August 2026
Key Facts
Wholesale electricity prices in Ireland rose 76.9% in August 2026 from the same month a year earlier and increased 9.6% from July, according to Ireland’s Central Statistics Office. The figures put electricity at the forefront of wholesale price pressures in the office’s latest available release, published on 22 September. However, prices remained 56.0% below the peak recorded in August 2022. That means the sharp annual increase follows a substantial retreat from that peak, with prices continuing to rise in the latest month covered by the data. The release covers August, the latest month listed on the office’s wholesale price index page.
The broader increase in energy costs included products beyond electricity alone. The energy products index rose 10.0% in August from July and was 64.7% above its level a year earlier, the office said. This index differs from the electricity price measure, as it combines energy products in a broader reading. The comparison highlights that the annual increase was not confined to the electricity market, while the monthly rise in the overall energy index was close to the pace of the electricity increase. The office published details of these indices in its August wholesale price index release.
The figures relate to wholesale prices and therefore do not in themselves measure household bills or how much consumers pay for electricity. The available release also provides no figure for the pass-through of higher wholesale prices to retail prices or business costs. August’s level, while still below the 2022 peak, puts the market in the context of a sustained annual rise, according to the comparison cited by the office. The office said, "Wholesale electricity prices increased 9.6% during the month to August 2026 and were 76.9% higher than in August 2025." The peak comparison provides a different historical measure from the annual change, with prices remaining 56.0% below the August 2022 level.
In Ireland’s electricity market, separate market notices showed disruptions to imbalance pricing during September. The Single Electricity Market Operator in Ireland, SEMO, reported an imbalance pricing incident on 7 September and recorded a day-ahead market reserve price of 230.01 euros for the period from 19:30 to 19:59. It also reported a separate incident on 14 September and listed a reserve price of 206.96 euros for the period from 23:30 to 23:59 on 13 September. These prices apply to specific settlement periods associated with the incidents and do not represent the monthly average wholesale prices published by the statistics office. The notices provide operational details about the market during the month, alongside the official August index data.
The August release comes as SEMO continues to publish market parameters weekly; its publications page listed an update uploaded on 22 October for the period from 25 to 31 October, and another uploaded on 15 October for the period from 18 to 24 October. The statistics office’s official wholesale price index page lists releases for May, June, July and August 2026, and does not list a September release. Eurostat is scheduled to release euro zone gross domestic product data on 30 October, according to its release page; the page includes no growth forecast. The August release remains the latest official basis available in the index data cited here, pending a later update from the office.