Chapter 3 contains information relating to energy production, consumption and imports in Ireland over time as well as residential energy bills. The chapter also presents some EU comparisons concerning final energy and electricity consumption. The indicators in this chapter demonstrate the increasing importance of renewable energy in general, and wind in particular, in the generation of energy in Ireland over time.
In 2024, Ireland produced from its own resources 2.963 million tonnes of oil equivalent (toe) of primary energy. This was slightly lower than the 2023 figure and 41.4%, lower than the peak figure of 5.054 million tonnes in 2018.
Renewable energy sources were the greatest contributor to primary energy production in 2024, when they accounted for 60.9% of the total, up from an average of just 4.9% in the 1990-1994 period.
Natural gas made up 59.6% of Ireland's energy production in 1990-1994. Its share fell to just 5.7% by 2015, then jumped to 58.6% in 2016 with the start of the Corrib Gas Field but decreased to 29.6% in 2024.
Peat and coal products fell from an average of 35.4% of energy production in 1990-1994 to 4.3% in 2024, due to the adoption of restrictions on the commercial harvesting of this fuel.
In 2023, renewable energy made up just 5.8% of Ireland’s total final energy consumption - the third lowest percentage among all EU-27 Member States. By comparison, Sweden led the way, with almost one-third (30.0%) of its energy coming from renewable sources, while the EU-27 average was 12.7%.
When it comes to oil, over half of Ireland’s energy use (51.2%) relied on this fuel, ranking Ireland as the fifth-highest user of oil in the EU27. This was significantly above the EU average of 37.4%. At the other end of the scale, Sweden used the least oil, with just 19.2% of its energy coming from this source, whereas Cyprus relied on oil the most, at 55.9%.
Ireland therefore stood out for its heavy reliance on oil (all of which is imported) and low adoption of renewable energy compared to other EU countries.
The amount of renewable energy production in Ireland has increased continuously from an average of 167 kilotonnes of oil equivalent (ktoe) between 1990 and 1994 to 1,803 ktoe in 2024.
Wind has been the main source of renewable energy production in Ireland in recent years. In 2024, 55.6% of renewable energy production was attributable to wind and 20.7% to biomass and renewable waste. The share of renewable energy accounted for by hydro power fell from 40.7% in 1990-1994 to 3.7% in 2024.
| Year | Wind | Biomass & Renewable Waste | Ambient Heat | Liquid Biofuel | Hydro | Solar | Landfill Gas | Biogas |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990-1994 | 0.6708 | 95.1130126414984 | 0.0477691793254992 | 0 | 67.854 | 0.0907614407184485 | 0 | 2.8040508264068 |
| 1995-1999 | 7.4992 | 98.6384775031617 | 0.0477691793254992 | 0 | 66.6672 | 0.105092194516098 | 14.5695996942773 | 3.91707270469093 |
| 2000-2004 | 35.69 | 124.832192776296 | 0.818415244175994 | 0 | 61.6276 | 0.181522881436897 | 20.6267316327505 | 6.39151619375179 |
| 2005-2009 | 172.9898951138 | 175.325945499615 | 9.73083303584006 | 14.573320395133 | 66.9452567380939 | 2.22861888505413 | 33.616832460395 | 10.6254551543272 |
| 2010-2014 | 360.717513249184 | 221.20428097756 | 18.9885859842257 | 23.6787366606577 | 58.7623911454991 | 9.35051523311983 | 41.5545008053837 | 13.1169881051216 |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2015 | 574.60952302276 | 259.609732127509 | 27.0114012279556 | 24.3021050539792 | 69.35815599686 | 11.7000171925759 | 41.7443515212367 | 13.6081602678815 |
| 2016 | 537.375361545293 | 293.082788572798 | 32.3081071823424 | 24.4132112544186 | 58.568191835904 | 12.5227091126673 | 39.6701783115066 | 15.926545888569 |
| 2017 | 650.762289644211 | 341.412119484447 | 35.623857872524 | 28.3832716342949 | 59.477849641144 | 13.4942342839147 | 38.9921376959874 | 16.4626159457515 |
| 2018 | 755.297282815326 | 388.982203073084 | 37.2092571957273 | 33.7396378049309 | 59.69170898797 | 15.1413916655095 | 33.5382635807851 | 16.8163640090428 |
| 2019 | 875.905221183154 | 374.112369384274 | 42.7739856727377 | 45.7023462430256 | 76.246216633584 | 16.6379951159207 | 31.7738255935178 | 18.8635257238011 |
| 2020 | 1009.66178767725 | 372.204491118472 | 49.5755390534908 | 57.4583532509488 | 80.208366922724 | 18.8408063232395 | 29.3029403721512 | 20.9827844911458 |
| 2021 | 854.814643344833 | 376.016955076999 | 57.2834237434899 | 81.22874734047 | 64.4501145808845 | 21.3263860194982 | 29.4071670948203 | 22.6787618372998 |
| 2022 | 979.840208994726 | 393.650258184837 | 71.2834329107535 | 105.758744914719 | 60.3033474806667 | 26.8407697367487 | 25.7862084297581 | 27.9887601954057 |
| 2023 | 1020.24829047317 | 341.923934735434 | 87.4549495278877 | 97.9853487009045 | 81.0766275711107 | 69.6908089753334 | 24.4971564574173 | 28.0071122550517 |
| 2024 | 1001.86227890225 | 373.115155133821 | 103.816347072789 | 98.4156680514369 | 65.8855927819982 | 108.035701384041 | 23.0382875599081 | 29.0834839635971 |
The share of renewable energy sources used in the generation of electricity in Ireland has increased from an average of 5.1% in 1990-1994 to 40.2% in 2024.
Wind is the main source of renewables used in electricity generation, with its share rising from 0% in 1990-1994 to 32.3% of the total kilo-tonnes of oil equivalent (ktoe) used to generate electricity in Ireland in 2024.
Ireland’s share of gross final electricity consumption from renewable sources in 2023 at 40.4% was below the EU-27 average of 45.3%.
Austria had the highest proportion of gross final electricity consumption from renewable sources at 87.8% and Malta the lowest at 10.7% in 2023.
| Country | % Total gross final electricity consumption |
|---|---|
| Austria | 87.8 |
| Sweden | 87.5 |
| Denmark | 79.4 |
| Portugal | 63 |
| Croatia | 58.8 |
| Spain | 56.9 |
| Latvia | 54.3 |
| Finland | 52.4 |
| Germany | 52.3 |
| Greece | 48.2 |
| Romania | 47.4 |
| Netherlands | 46.4 |
| EU-27 | 45.3 |
| Slovenia | 41.9 |
| Ireland | 40.4 |
| Italy | 38.1 |
| Lithuania | 36.5 |
| Estonia | 31.8 |
| Belgium | 31.4 |
| France | 30 |
| Bulgaria | 29.4 |
| Poland | 25.8 |
| Slovakia | 24.2 |
| Cyprus | 20.9 |
| Hungary | 19.5 |
| Luxembourg | 18 |
| Czechia | 16.4 |
| Malta | 10.7 |
Renewable energy sources used in transport have grown from an average 1.0% of total transport energy consumption in 2006-2009 to 9.1% in 2024. Biodiesel accounted for 7.5% of transport energy consumption in 2024 and bio-gasoline for 1.2%.
Ireland’s net imports of fuel increased by 3.6% from 11.3 million tonnes of oil equivalent (toe) in 2023 to 11.7 million toe in 2024.This compares with a peak figure of 14.5 million toe between 2005 and 2009.
The proportion of net fuel imports accounted for by coal products and peat was 1.3% in 2024 down from 26.6% in 1990-1994.
Crude oil and other oil products (such as diesel, gasoline and jet kerosene) accounted for 63.4% of all Irish net fuel imports in 2024.
The proportion of net fuel imports accounted for by natural gas varied from 0% in 1990-1994 to 31.8% in 2010-2014. In 2024 it was 29.0%.
The median residential gas bill in Ireland increased by 28.5% from €972 in 2022 to €1,249 in 2023. The 2023 figure was significantly higher than the 2015 figure of €746.
By contrast, the median residential electricity bill fell by 3.2% from €909 in 2022 to €880 in 2023.The 2023 figure was significantly lower than the 2015 level of €1,095.
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