Back to Top

 Skip navigation

Key Findings

Renewable Energy use by business sector up 8% in 2022

Online ISSN: 2565-6252
CSO statistical publication, , 11am

Key Findings

  • The quantity of Renewable Energy in kilotonne of oil equivalent (ktoe) increased by 8% between 2021 and 2022 (See Table 2A).

  • Energy use by the Industry sector increased by 1.3% while energy use by the Services sector increased by 47% (See Table 1A).

  • There was a 76% increase in the use of Jet Kerosene by Irish resident airlines in 2022 (See Table 2B).

  • The cost of energy purchases by enterprises in 2022 was €16.2 billion which was 83% higher than 2021 (See Table 1B).

  • Purchases of Electricity and Natural Gas accounted for 53% of total energy costs incurred by enterprises in 2022 (See Table 2C and Figure 1).

  • Enterprises with their headquarters based in Dublin used 72% of business energy consumption in 2022 (See Table 7A).

Statistician's Comment

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (18 June 2024) published Business Energy Use 2022. 

Commenting on the release Dympna Corry, Statistician in the Climate and Energy Division, said: "Energy use by Irish resident enterprises increased by 22% in 2022. There was a 1.3% increase in energy use by the Industry sector while it rose by 47% in the Services sector. Purchases of Jet Kerosene accounted for a large proportion of the increase in the Services sector due to a 76% increase from 2,903 kilotonnes of oil equivalent (ktoe) in 2021 to 5,096 ktoe in 2022.

The cost of purchases of energy by Irish resident enterprises increased by 83% from €8.8 billion in 2021 to €16.2 billion in 2022.

In terms of the quantity of energy used (in kilotonnes of oil equivalent), the share by the Services sector increased from 46% in 2013 to 54% in 2022.

The quantity of Renewable Energy in ktoe increased by 8% between 2021 and 2022 (excluding transport renewable fuels)."

Editor's Note

This release analyses energy purchases by Industry and Services enterprises resident in Ireland. Energy purchased abroad by enterprises resident in Ireland is included e.g., fuel purchased by an Irish resident airline in other countries. Energy purchased in Ireland by foreign resident enterprises is not included e.g., purchases of autodiesel by a foreign registered vehicle. See Background Notes for more information.

Services sector accounted for 54% of business energy use in 2022

The quantity share of energy use by the Services sector, expressed in kilotonnes of oil equivalent, increased from 44% in 2021 to 54% in 2022 (See Table 1A). This increase was mainly due to a 76% increase in use of Jet Kerosene by Irish resident airlines in 2022 (See Table 2B).

Table 1A Energy Consumption in ktoe by Sector 2013-2022

Table 1B Energy Consumption in Million Euro by Sector 2013-2022

Enterprise electricity consumption increased by 7% in 2022

Overall business energy use of Electricity increased by 7% in 2022 while use of Natural Gas rose by 6% in 2022 (See Table 2B).

The total quantity of Renewable Energy purchased by enterprises in the Industry and Services sectors was 8% higher in 2022 compared with 2021 (excludes transport renewable fuels such as biodiesel, biogasoline, and electric vehicles). Wood Biomass (wood pellet, wood chip, wood log and wood waste) accounted for 59% of the quantity of Renewable Energy purchased directly by enterprises in 2022 (this excludes purchases of metered electricity that was generated from renewable sources such as wind and hydro) (See Table 2A). 

Purchases of Coal decreased by 13% from 1.3 million tonnes in 2021 to 1.1 million tonnes in 2022. Purchases of Heavy Fuel Oil decreased by 11% from 387 million litres in 2021 to 342 million litres in 2022. Peat increased by 1.5% from 480 thousand tonnes in 2021 to 487 thousand tonnes in 2022 - the main use of peat was by power plants to generate electricity (See Table 2B).

ElectricityNatural GasPetroleum fuelsSolid fuelsRenewable energyRoad transportRail transportAviation transportMarine transport
ktoe12.664403903266930.96450289916565.791260076368265.734690991373222.885023334747564.935652665818130.30405883184839536.04157827747140.678829019940602
Purchase Costs33.384872286474119.45698558970874.830230688354261.45339847857010.8905931102727447.217514997835360.3958191601212231.83870369225060.531881996412889
Table 2A Energy Consumption in ktoe by Detailed Energy Product 2013-2022

Table 2B Energy Consumption in Reported Quantities by Detailed Energy Product 2013-2022

Table 2C Energy Consumption in Million Euro by Detailed Energy Product 2013-2022

Transportation and Storage NACE Sector used 40% of business energy use in 2022

The Business Energy Use survey does not include the Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing NACE sector. Across the Industry and Services sectors, 40% of energy use in 2022 was consumed by the Transportation and Storage sector (5,597 ktoe). The Electricity and Gas sector was the next highest with 27% of total energy use in 2022. Manufacture of Food, Beverages and Tobacco accounted for 5% and Information and Communication for 4% (See Table 3A). The distribution by NACE sector is quite different in terms of the monetary cost of energy purchases with the Transportation and Storage sector accounting for 37% of the total costs of energy purchases followed by the Electricity and Gas sector at 14% in 2022 (See Table 3B).

Manufacture of Food, Beverages and TobaccoManufacture of Rubber, Plastic and Non-metallic Mineral ProductsManufacture of Basic Metals and Metal ProductsElectricity and GasWholesale, Retail and Vehicle RepairTransportation and StoragePublic AdministrationInformation and Communication
ktoe4.787158817706123.500212134068733.9244802715316126.67939471079062.7860274360062239.5771460896621.576863244237023.93862254278037
Purchase Costs4.669429154555012.300698868204592.3068835425814814.0701342074345.3373739872595737.01527614571093.0614138165625610.5757931844888
Table 3A Energy Consumption in ktoe by Detailed NACE Rev.2 Sector 2013-2022

Table 3B Energy Consumption in Million Euro by Detailed NACE Rev.2 Sector 2013-2022

NACE Sector by Energy Product Analysis

At an energy product level, the Manufacturing sector used 29% of Electricity consumption, 29% of Natural Gas, 35% of Total Petroleum Fuels, and 49% of Total Renewable Energy. The Electricity and Gas sector used 86% of Total Solid Fuels. Public Administration, Education, Health and Care accounted for 10% of Electricity use and 5% of Natural Gas use in 2022The Transportation and Storage NACE sector accounted for 40% of energy consumption in 2022. Total Aviation Transport Fuels comprised 91% of fuel use by this NACE sector  (See Table 4A)

Table 4A Energy Consumption in ktoe by Summary Energy Product and Summary NACE Rev.2 Sector 2022

Table 4B Energy Consumption in ktoe by Summary Energy Product and Summary NACE Rev.2 Sector 2021

Table 4C Energy Consumption in ktoe by Summary Energy Product and Summary NACE Rev.2 Sector 2020

Table 4D Energy Consumption in ktoe by Summary Energy Product and Summary NACE Rev.2 Sector 2019

Table 4E Energy Consumption in ktoe by Summary Energy Product and Summary NACE Rev.2 Sector 2018

Cost of Energy Purchases by Enterprises in 2022 was €16.2 billion

The cost of energy purchases by enterprises in 2022 was €16.2 billion which was 83% higher than 2021 (See Table 5A and Table 5B)

Table 5A Energy Consumption in Million Euro by Summary Energy Product and Summary NACE Rev.2 Sector 2022

Table 5B Energy Consumption in Million Euro by Summary Energy Product and Summary NACE Rev.2 Sector 2021

Table 5C Energy Consumption in Million Euro by Summary Energy Product and Summary NACE Rev.2 Sector 2020

Table 5D Energy Consumption in Million Euro by Summary Energy Product and Summary NACE Rev.2 Sector 2019

Table 5E Energy Consumption in Million Euro by Summary Energy Product and Summary NACE Rev.2 Sector 2018

Emissions Trading Scheme covered 42% of Business Energy Use in 2022

The EPA Emissions Trading Scheme returns are incorporated into the processing of the Business Energy Use survey. In 2022, energy use by companies participating in the ETS represented 42% of business energy use compared with 50% in 2021 (See Table 6A). At an energy product level, ETS returns comprised 96% of Total Solid Fuels in terms of ktoe and 84% of Natural Gas (See Table 6B).

ktoePurchase Costs
201345.852733229867226.1989017693716
201445.531082575048925.2763819095477
201545.815379516075625.390625
201645.501458380076327.8618933069195
201743.672014260249627.599520702969
201841.159186072136926.5035444774754
201940.332577475434624.9575551782683
202051.627175302330233.9410009943653
202149.819432502149637.0845150311968
202241.726771319473930.3358278186653
Table 6A Energy Consumption in ktoe by Participation in Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) 2013-2022

Table 6B Energy Consumption in ktoe by Summary Energy Product and Participation in Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) 2022

Table 6C Energy Consumption in Million Euro by Participation in Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) 2013-2022

Enterprises located in Dublin accounted for 72% of energy use in 2022

Dublin accounted for 72% of energy use in terms of ktoe in 2022. Cork used 6%, Limerick 5%, and Kildare 4% (See Table 7A).

DublinCorkKildareLimerickGalwayMeathWexford
Counties69.175582905566.456800049477394.304533366318263.562372441090981.385367060424271.410105757931850.82256169212691
Table 7A Energy Consumption in ktoe by County 2013-2022

Table 7B Energy Consumption in Million Euro by County 2013-2022

Why you can Trust the CSO

Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.