Ireland's State of the Environment Report 2024

318 Chapter 12: Environment and Energy From 2013 to 2022, oil and natural gas use increased by 6.6% and 10.8%, respectively, due to the demands from transport (oil) and electricity generation (gas), while the use of more carbon-intensive fuels, coal and peat, declined by 44% and 27%, respectively (SEAI, 2024d). Ireland continues to source most of its energy from fossil fuels, however. In addition, most of Ireland’s energy is imported: in 2023, Ireland’s energy import dependency was 78.4%, importing 77.5% of its natural gas and 100% of its oil and coal requirements. Natural gas from the Kinsale gas field contributed significantly to Ireland’s indigenous energy supply in the 1990s. After a lull in indigenous natural gas supply during the early 2000s, production at the Corrib gas field has helped to reduce Ireland’s energy import dependency to below 70% since 2015. As this gas field has depleted, Ireland’s energy import dependency has grown again. The use of peat as a fuel for electricity generation ended in 2023, when planning permission expired for the last remaining plant, and coal-fired generation at the Moneypoint power plant is due to end in 2025. To ensure security of electricity supply, while new generation capacity is constructed the Moneypoint power plant will transition from coal- to oil-fired electricity generation. The contribution of renewable energy to Ireland’s energy supply increased over tenfold from 2 TWh in 1990 to 23.0 TWh in 2023, providing 14% of total energy supply and more than half of all indigenous energy in Ireland (SEAI, 2024d). Wind accounted for just over half (50.8%) of Ireland’s renewable energy, followed by biodiesel , biomass and renewable wastes. In 2023, heat pumps installed in homes and businesses across the country harnessed renewable ambient heat in the air that, in energy terms, exceeded the renewable energy produced from hydroelectricity. Figure 12.7 illustrates Ireland’s renewable energy contribution to TPER in 2023 and emphasises the dominance of wind and bioenergy in Ireland’s renewable energy mix. Figure 12.7  Contribution of renewables to Ireland’s total primary energy requirement, 2023 ˜ Wind ˜ Biofuels ˜ Biomass ˜ Renewable waste ˜ Ambient heat ˜ Hydro ˜ Biogas/Landfill gas ˜ Solar PV/Thermal Wind 51% Renewable waste 8% Hydro 4% Solar/PV Thermal 3% Biogas/ Landfill Gas 3% Ambient heat 5% Biofuels 15% Biomass 11% Source: SEAI, 2024b