Renewables

Developing renewable energy is central to Ireland's climate change strategy. It contributes to security, cost competitiveness and sustainability goals.

Renewable energy targets

The first Renewable Energy Directive (RED) was the most important legislation influencing the growth of renewable energy in the European Union (EU) and Ireland for the decade ending in 2020. From 2021, RED was replaced by the second Renewable Energy Directive (RED II), which continues to promote the growth of renewable energy out to 2030. RED set out mandatory targets for renewable energy in Ireland to be met by 2020, while RED II sets new targets and criteria to be met by Ireland in 2030 and the interim. 

Under the European Green Deal and REPowerEU plan, a significant revision [25] to RED II was finalised during 2023 and entered into force on 20 November 2023 (referred to as RED III). RED III sets more ambitious targets for 2030 and requires Member States to take additional measures to promote the use of renewable energy. RED III also redefines how progress towards the renewable energy targets is calculated, with significant changes made in how the renewable energy share in transport (RES-T) is determined.

The main target set out in the directives relates to overall renewable energy share (RES) and is commonly referred to as the overall RES target. The overall RES is the annual percentage of the gross final consumption (GFC) of energy from renewable sources in the state and is calculated as the sum of: 

  1. Gross final consumption of electricity from renewable sources - referred to as RES-E
  2. Gross final consumption of energy from renewable sources in heating and cooling – referred to as RES-H 
  3. Final consumption of energy from renewable sources in the transport sector – referred to as RES-T

Overall renewable energy share (RES)

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Renewable Energy Share (RES) by mode,Biomass in elec (not verified),Biomass in heat (not verified),RES-E (normalised),RES-H,RES-T 2005,,,1.3,1.5,0 2006,,,1.6,1.5,0 2007,,,1.8,1.5,0.2 2008,,,2.1,1.4,0.4 2009,,,2.8,1.7,0.6 2010,,,3.2,1.8,0 2011,,,3.9,1.9,0 2012,,,4.3,2,0.2 2013,,,4.5,2.1,0.8 2014,,,5.1,2.4,1 2015,,,5.6,2.4,1.1 2016,,,5.8,2.4,1 2017,,,6.6,2.5,1.4 2018,,,7.2,2.5,1.3 2019,,,8,2.5,1.5 2020,,,9.3,2.8,1.5 2021,0.2,0.4,9.2,2.2,1.6 2022,0.4,0.7,9.1,2,1.9 2023,0,0.2,10.1,2.7,2.4
Source: SEAI

The figure above shows the contribution of renewable electricity, heat and transport to the overall RES target. Renewable electricity makes the largest contribution to the overall RES and has been responsible for most of the overall growth in renewable energy since 2005. This figure also shows the share of heat and electricity generated by biomass fuels that was excluded from the overall RES

Renewable energy in transport (RES-T)

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,RES-T (RED II),RES-T (RED I),RE in transport (contribution to overall RES) 2005,,0,0 2006,,0.1,0.1 2007,,0.5,0.4 2008,,1.3,1 2009,,1.9,1.7 2010,,2.5,2 2011,,3.8,2.3 2012,,4.1,2.1 2013,,5,2.4 2014,,5.3,2.6 2015,,5.9,2.7 2016,,5.2,2.4 2017,,7.4,3.2 2018,,7.2,3 2019,,8.8,3.7 2020,,10.1,4.6 2021,4.6,,4.5 2022,5.8,,4.8 2023,7.6,,5.7
Source: SEAI

RED I established a mandatory minimum target for the share of renewable energy sources in transport (RES-T) by 2020: 10% of all petrol, diesel, biofuels and electricity consumed in road and rail transport. Ireland exceeded this target reaching 10.2% RES-T in 2020. RED II requires Ireland, along with all Member States, to set an obligation on fuel suppliers to ensure that the share of renewable energy within the final consumption of energy in transport is at least 14% by 2030.

Weighting factors

RED II, as with RED I before it, specifies several weightings or multipliers that are applied to certain fuels or energy for the calculation of RES-T. These weightings help to incentivise the use of advanced biofuels and biofuels from wastes over crop-based fuels, generally promoting those with lower life-cycle greenhouse gas intensities. In addition to the change in multipliers used in the RES-T calculation, RED II also includes three limits on biomass fuels produced from certain feedstocks.

These multipliers do not apply to the overall RES. Prior to the transition to RED II, there was a significant difference between the RES-T value and the share of renewable energy in transport, as a component of the overall RES.

The figure above shows the annual RES-T from 2005 to present and the share of renewable energy in transport, as it contributes to the overall RES. The RES-T increased from 5.8% in 2022 to 7.6% in 2023. The decrease in RES-T from 10.2% in 2020 to 4.6% in 2021 was due to the change in calculation methodology between RED I and RED II.  The share of renewable energy in transport, without multipliers or limits, increased from 4.8% in 2022 to 5.7% in 2023.  

Renewable energy in transport by source (without multipliers)

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Renewable Energy Share of Transport (RES-T) by fuel (%),Renewable Electricity,Biojet,Biomethane,Biogasoline,Biodiesel 2005,0,0,0,0,1 2006,0,0,0,1,2 2007,0,0,0,4,18 2008,0,0,0,18,38 2009,0,0,0,23,55 2010,0,0,0,30,62 2011,1,0,0,29,69 2012,1,0,0,29,56 2013,1,0,0,29,74 2014,1,0,0,27,90 2015,1,0,0,30,98 2016,1,0,0,33,86 2017,1,0,0,30,131 2018,2,0,0,27,127 2019,2,0,0,26,163 2020,3,0,0,19,157 2021,5,0,0,20,161 2022,7,1,1,23,204 2023,11,0,2,33,269
Source: SEAI

The graph above shows the final energy from renewable sources used in transport in absolute terms, without multipliers or limits applied. Biofuels provide almost all of the renewable energy in transport, 96.0% in 2023, with renewable electricity providing 3.4% and biomethane (also referred to as bio compressed natural gas) contributing 0.6%.

Renewable energy share in electricity (RES-E)

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Renewable Energy Share of Electricity (RES-E) by fuel (%),Wind (normalised),Hydro (normalised),Solar PV,Biomass,Other 2005,4,2.7,0,0,0.4 2006,5.4,2.6,0,0,0.4 2007,6.4,2.5,0,0,0.5 2008,7.6,2.5,0,0.1,0.6 2009,10.4,2.7,0,0.2,0.7 2010,11.9,2.7,0,0.4,0.7 2011,14.3,2.8,0,0.5,0.7 2012,15.5,2.8,0,0.9,0.7 2013,16.6,2.7,0,1.1,0.7 2014,18.8,2.7,0,1.2,0.7 2015,21.5,2.6,0,1,0.7 2016,22.3,2.6,0,1.6,0.7 2017,25.4,2.5,0,1.8,0.7 2018,28.2,2.4,0.1,2.2,0.6 2019,31.3,2.4,0.1,2.1,0.6 2020,33.5,2.5,0.2,2.4,0.5 2021,32.9,2.3,0.3,1.8,0.4 2022,33.3,2.2,0.4,1.1,0.3 2023,34.1,2.2,1.9,1.9,0.3
Source: SEAI

Ireland has no binding national target for RES-E for 2030, nor was there one for 2020, but RES-E forms the backbone of Ireland’s strategy to achieve the overall renewable energy target for 2030. Ireland’s Climate Action Plan 2024 (CAP 24) includes a target to increase the share of electricity generated from renewable sources up to 80% by 2030

The Government set an ambitious national target for RES-E of 40% for 2020. Ireland fell just short of this target, achieving 39.1% RES-E in 2020, but despite this, electricity generation has been the most successful of the three modes for the development of energy from renewable sources. The share of electricity from renewable energy increased fivefold between 2005 and 2020 and there was a sevenfold increase in the annual quantity of renewable electricity generated.  

RES-E decreased from 39.1% in 2020 to 37.7% in 2021. This drop was primarily due to an increase in electricity consumption, while renewable generation remained stagnant, with around 0.8 pp of electricity generated from biomass or biogas that was ineligible to be counted towards the RES-E. In 2022, the RES-E dropped to 37.4% with around 1.6 pp of electricity from biomass and biogas that was ineligible to contribute. In 2023 the RES-E increased to 40.4%, the highest yet. 

Wind generation.

In the last century, hydro was the largest contributor to renewable electricity in Ireland. Since the early 2000s electricity production from wind energy has increased dramatically. Electricity generated from wind has a particular technical characteristic, it is known as "non-synchronous" generation. Incorporating a large share of non-synchronous generation is a big challenge to grid stability. Achieving this has required the Irish grid operator, EirGrid, to become a world leader in this area.

Renewable energy share in heat (RES-H)

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Renewable Energy Share of Heat (RES-H) by fuel (%),Biomass (not verified),Biomass,Renewable waste,Biogas,Solar Thermal,Ambient 2005,,3.2,0,0.1,0,0.1 2006,,3.4,0,0.1,0,0.1 2007,,3.5,0,0.1,0,0.2 2008,,3.1,0,0.1,0.1,0.2 2009,,3.5,0.1,0.2,0.1,0.3 2010,,3.5,0.1,0.2,0.1,0.3 2011,,3.6,0.2,0.2,0.2,0.4 2012,,3.6,0.4,0.2,0.2,0.4 2013,,3.8,0.5,0.2,0.2,0.5 2014,,4.6,0.6,0.2,0.3,0.5 2015,,4.4,0.7,0.2,0.3,0.6 2016,,4.2,0.8,0.2,0.3,0.7 2017,,4.4,0.9,0.2,0.3,0.8 2018,,4.2,0.8,0.2,0.3,0.8 2019,,4,0.9,0.2,0.3,1 2020,,3.8,0.9,0.2,0.3,1.1 2021,0.9,2.8,1,0.1,0.3,1.4 2022,1.9,2.1,1.2,0.1,0.3,1.8 2023,0.6,3.6,1.4,0.2,0.3,2.3
Source: SEAI

Under RED III, which entered into force in November 2023 (transposition deadline in 2025), Ireland must increase the share of renewable energy in heating and cooling by at least 0.8 pp and 1.1 pp as annual averages for the periods 2021-2025 and 2026-2030, respectively. Based on Ireland’s 2020 RES-H figure of 6.3%, Ireland’s RES-H would need to reach 10.3% in 2025 to achieve the target for 2021-2025. 

The figure above show the share of heating provided by renewable energy as a share of overall heat (gross final consumption of heat). RES-H fell from 6.3% in 2020 to 5.6% in 2021 and then 5.5% in 2022; this decrease can be attributed to the transition from RED I to RED II and the introduction of new sustainability and verification criteria for biomass fuels, see section 8.2.2. In 2023 the RES-H increased 7.9%, a new high. This increase was due to the sustainability data relating to biomass and biogas becoming available in 2023 (i.e. less renewable energy excluded from the RES-H), an increase in the quantity of renewable energy and an overall decrease in consumption of energy in heat.

Renewable heat energy is dominated by the use of solid biomass and renewable wastes in industry. Utilisation of ambient energy (via heat pumps) has grown five-fold between 2013 and 2023 and is now a significant source of renewable heat energy, accounting for approximately 27% of renewable heat energy in 2023.

 

CO₂eq emissions avoided through the use of renewable energy

Download CO₂eq emissions avoided through the use of renewable energy data

Avoided CO?eq from renewable energy,Ambient (H),Solar Thermal (H),Renewable waste (H),Biogas (H),Biomass (H),Biogas (T),Liquid Biofuels (T),Biogas (E),Landfill Gas (E),Renewable Wastes (E),Biomass (E),Hydro (E),Solar PV (E),Wind (E) 2005,0,0,0,0.02,0.2,0,0,0.01,0.07,0,0.01,0.33,0,0.59 2006,0.01,0,0,0.02,0.22,0,0.01,0.01,0.07,0,0,0.38,0,0.87 2007,0.01,0,0,0.01,0.26,0,0.06,0.01,0.09,0,0.01,0.31,0,0.93 2008,0.02,0.01,0,0.01,0.24,0,0.16,0.01,0.1,0,0.02,0.45,0,1.13 2009,0.02,0.02,0.02,0.02,0.25,0,0.23,0.01,0.1,0,0.04,0.41,0,1.37 2010,0.02,0.02,0.02,0.02,0.23,0,0.27,0.01,0.1,0,0.06,0.26,0,1.24 2011,0.02,0.03,0.04,0.02,0.2,0,0.28,0.01,0.1,0,0.08,0.3,0,1.59 2012,0.02,0.03,0.07,0.02,0.18,0,0.25,0.02,0.11,0.04,0.11,0.33,0,1.45 2013,0.03,0.03,0.08,0.02,0.2,0,0.3,0.02,0.09,0.04,0.13,0.25,0,1.68 2014,0.04,0.03,0.1,0.02,0.26,0,0.34,0.02,0.1,0.04,0.16,0.29,0,1.91 2015,0.04,0.04,0.12,0.02,0.24,0,0.37,0.02,0.11,0.05,0.12,0.32,0,2.47 2016,0.04,0.04,0.14,0.02,0.24,0,0.35,0.03,0.1,0.04,0.22,0.26,0,2.17 2017,0.06,0.04,0.15,0.02,0.21,0,0.47,0.03,0.09,0.08,0.21,0.27,0,2.67 2018,0.08,0.04,0.15,0.02,0.22,0,0.45,0.02,0.07,0.16,0.17,0.27,0.01,3.13 2019,0.11,0.04,0.15,0.03,0.2,0,0.55,0.03,0.07,0.15,0.17,0.36,0.01,3.86 2020,0.14,0.04,0.16,0.03,0.23,0,0.51,0.02,0.06,0.15,0.19,0.38,0.02,4.52 2021,0.15,0.04,0.17,0.03,0.16,0,0.53,0.03,0.06,0.17,0.24,0.33,0.04,4.04 2022,0.19,0.04,0.2,0.03,0.15,0,0.66,0.03,0.05,0.16,0.24,0.3,0.06,4.55 2023,0.28,0.04,0.21,0.03,0.14,0,0.88,0.02,0.04,0.14,0.15,0.38,0.27,4.55
Source: SEAI

Renewable energy reduces CO₂eq emissions

The replacement of fossil fuels with renewable zero-carbon energy sources is essential for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It also improves energy security by reducing our reliance on imported fossil fuels.

The figure above shows the trend in annual avoided GHG emissions from renewable energy in electricity, heat and transport from 2003 to present. The estimated emissions avoided through the use of renewable energy was 7.15 MtCO2eq in 2023, more than any previous year, with 4.55 MtCO2eq avoided by wind energy.

Renewable energy in Ireland

For more information on renewable energy see our latest Renewable Energy in Ireland publication.

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