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).
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.
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).
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).
Electricity | Natural Gas | Petroleum fuels | Solid fuels | Renewable energy | Road transport | Rail transport | Aviation transport | Marine transport | |
ktoe | 12.6644039032669 | 30.9645028991656 | 5.79126007636826 | 5.73469099137322 | 2.88502333474756 | 4.93565266581813 | 0.304058831848395 | 36.0415782774714 | 0.678829019940602 |
Purchase Costs | 33.3848722864741 | 19.4569855897087 | 4.83023068835426 | 1.4533984785701 | 0.890593110272744 | 7.21751499783536 | 0.39581916012122 | 31.8387036922506 | 0.531881996412889 |
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 Tobacco | Manufacture of Rubber, Plastic and Non-metallic Mineral Products | Manufacture of Basic Metals and Metal Products | Electricity and Gas | Wholesale, Retail and Vehicle Repair | Transportation and Storage | Public Administration | Information and Communication | |
ktoe | 4.78715881770612 | 3.50021213406873 | 3.92448027153161 | 26.6793947107906 | 2.78602743600622 | 39.577146089662 | 1.57686324423702 | 3.93862254278037 |
Purchase Costs | 4.66942915455501 | 2.30069886820459 | 2.30688354258148 | 14.070134207434 | 5.33737398725957 | 37.0152761457109 | 3.06141381656256 | 10.5757931844888 |
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 2022. The 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).
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).
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).
ktoe | Purchase Costs | |
2013 | 45.8527332298672 | 26.1989017693716 |
2014 | 45.5310825750489 | 25.2763819095477 |
2015 | 45.8153795160756 | 25.390625 |
2016 | 45.5014583800763 | 27.8618933069195 |
2017 | 43.6720142602496 | 27.599520702969 |
2018 | 41.1591860721369 | 26.5035444774754 |
2019 | 40.3325774754346 | 24.9575551782683 |
2020 | 51.6271753023302 | 33.9410009943653 |
2021 | 49.8194325021496 | 37.0845150311968 |
2022 | 41.7267713194739 | 30.3358278186653 |
Dublin accounted for 72% of energy use in terms of ktoe in 2022. Cork used 6%, Limerick 5%, and Kildare 4% (See Table 7A).
Dublin | Cork | Kildare | Limerick | Galway | Meath | Wexford | |
Counties | 69.17558290556 | 6.45680004947739 | 4.30453336631826 | 3.56237244109098 | 1.38536706042427 | 1.41010575793185 | 0.82256169212691 |
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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)."