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● This week
Emissions fall for a fourth year, renewables hit a record.It was a week of official numbers. The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) put renewable energy at a record 15.9 per cent of national energy in 2025, while the country still imported close to four fifths of what it used. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) then reported a fourth consecutive year of falling emissions and confirmed Ireland stayed inside its first carbon budget. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) added its annual data centre figures, now 23 per cent of metered electricity. The one figure to hold onto is 78.2 per cent. That is how much of Ireland’s 2025 energy was imported, well above the EU average, even as renewables set records and emissions fell. On the demand side, the new electric vehicle scrappage pilot was fully subscribed within an hour of opening, a reminder of how quickly take-up moves when the numbers work for buyers.
Philip Connolly, EnergyView
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Top story · Energy security Imported fuels met 78 per cent of Ireland’s energy in 2025 as renewables hit a recordImported fuels met 78.2 per cent of Ireland’s energy requirement in 2025, well above the EU average of 57.3 per cent, according to SEAI’s First Look at Ireland’s energy supply and security of supply. Almost 93 per cent of those imports were fossil fuels, with Ireland importing all of its oil and coal and more than 82 per cent of its natural gas. The United Kingdom remained the largest supplier at 55.5 per cent of imports, ahead of the United States and the EU. Renewable energy reached a record 15.9 per cent of total energy, fossil fuel use fell 4.7 per cent on a 45 per cent drop in coal, and reliance on fossil fuels fell below 80 per cent for the first time. 10 July 2026 · Source · SEAI, RTÉ, The Journal
Emissions Ireland met its first carbon budget as emissions fell a fourth yearIreland’s greenhouse gas emissions fell 2.2 per cent in 2025 to 52.65 Mt CO₂eq excluding land use, leaving them 14.5 per cent below 2018, the EPA’s provisional inventory found. The fall was the fourth in a row and confirmed Ireland stayed inside its first carbon budget for 2021 to 2025, coming in 1.1 Mt CO₂eq under the cap. Per-capita emissions fell to 9.6 tonnes, down from 12.3 tonnes in 2021. The EPA noted that emissions now need to fall by more than 10 per cent a year to 2030 to meet the national 51 per cent target. 8 July 2026 · Source · EPA, RTÉ EVs Battery electric cars took 23.7 per cent of the market in the first half of 2026Battery electric vehicles took 23.7 per cent of new car registrations in the first half of 2026, the highest half-year share on record and up from 16.7 per cent in the same period of 2025. Registrations reached 20,258 units, a rise of 48.6 per cent, against a total market up 4.5 per cent at 85,419. Petrol and diesel together fell 20.4 per cent to 28,951 registrations, cutting their combined share to 33.9 per cent from 44.5 per cent a year earlier. Hybrids and plug-in hybrids took 42.4 per cent, the largest single block. Battery electric share has fallen only once across the series, in 2024, when it dropped to 13.6 per cent from 18.5 per cent in 2023.
January to June 2026 · Source · SIMI Heat The Heat Bill moves ahead with price regulation for district heatingMinister for Climate, Energy and the Environment Darragh O’Brien secured Cabinet approval on 10 July for updates to the General Scheme of the Heat (Networks and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024. The Bill will introduce consumer protections for existing and new district heating and communal heating customers through price regulation of supplier tariffs. Between €50m and €100m has been allocated for district heating infrastructure from the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund under the Sectoral Capital Plan for 2026 to 2030. The scheme will be administered through the SEAI District Heating Centre of Excellence, with grant support of up to 50 per cent of eligible costs expected to run from the start of 2027 to the end of 2030. Codema estimates that waste heat and renewable sources in Dublin could heat over one million homes, and that around 80 per cent of the city’s heat demand could be met by district heating by 2050. 10 July 2026 · Source · DCEE Also worth knowing
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Fourteen more consultations are open, including the CRU Price Control 6 strategy paper closing 14 August and the DCEE Climate Action Plan call closing 17 August. The full list is at energyview.ie. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
EirGrid dominates this week’s senior hiring, with five director vacancies and four manager roles open at once.
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| 05 | Conferences & webinars | 5 of 11 |
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The rest of the diary, running to November, goes up on energyview.ie this week. To advertise an event, email [email protected].
| 06 | Podcast corner | 1 hr 7 min |
This week’s listen How Australia became the world’s battery championMichael Liebreich talks to Darren Miller, chief executive of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), the federal body that has deployed more than A$14bn in clean energy grants. Australia has quietly become the world’s third largest battery market while remaining the largest per capita importer of diesel, a combination of high renewables and deep import reliance worth hearing in the week Ireland’s own import figure landed at 78.2 per cent.
Cleaning Up, Deep Dive Australia 01 · 29 June 2026 · 1 hr 7 min · Listen |
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