Energy in Ireland 2025: What SEAI's Data Means for Your Business
SEAI's annual report lays out the numbers — 81% fossil fuel dependence, electricity prices up 150% since 2020, and commercial energy demand still climbing. Here's what it means for Irish businesses and what you can do about it.
In December 2025, SEAI published Energy in Ireland 2025 — their annual deep dive into how Ireland generates, consumes, and wastes energy. It covers final 2024 data with provisional 2025 estimates, and it’s the most authoritative single source of Irish energy statistics.
We’ve gone through the full report so you don’t have to. Here’s what the numbers actually mean if you’re running a business in Ireland.
The Quick Version
- 81.3% of Ireland’s energy still comes from fossil fuels. 79.5% is imported.
- Energy-related emissions hit 30.9 MtCO₂eq in 2024 — the lowest in 30 years, but still far off target.
- Renewable energy reached a record 14.6% of the total mix. The 2030 target is 43%.
- 41% of electricity came from renewables — but only 8.5% of heat.
- Irish industrial electricity prices are 150% higher in real terms than in 2020.
- Commercial services energy demand grew 5.8% in one year and 42% in a decade.
- Data centres now consume 21.2% of all electricity and account for 88% of demand growth since 2015.
- Ireland is projected to overshoot its first carbon budget in both the electricity and transport sectors.
If your takeaway is “things are moving, but not fast enough, and it’s getting more expensive” — that’s about right.
The Headline Numbers
Let’s start with the big picture.
Ireland’s total energy-related emissions were 30.9 MtCO₂eq in 2024 — down 16% from the 2018 baseline and the lowest level in more than 30 years. That sounds like progress, and it is. But context matters: Ireland needs to roughly halve emissions by 2030 to meet its climate targets, and the rate of decline isn’t accelerating fast enough.
81.3% of Ireland’s primary energy still comes from fossil fuels. 79.5% of all energy is imported. We remain one of the most energy-dependent countries in Europe — which means global price shocks hit us harder and faster than most.
Renewable energy reached a record 14.6% of the primary energy mix. That’s good. But the 2030 target is 43%, meaning we need to nearly triple the renewable share in six years.
Total final energy consumption was 143.7 TWh in 2024, up 2.4% on 2023. Demand is still growing. The efficiency gains in some sectors are being cancelled out by volume growth in others.
What’s Actually Improving
It’s not all bad news. Several indicators are moving in the right direction.
Electricity is getting greener
41% of Ireland’s electricity came from renewable sources in 2024 — wind contributed 32.1% and solar 3%. Fossil fuel generation hit a record low of 45.3%. The 2030 target of 80% renewable electricity is ambitious, but the trajectory in electricity is better than in any other sector.
Solar PV is booming
Solar generated 1.09 TWh in 2024, up 69.1% on 2023. It’s still a small share of the total, but the growth rate is striking. This matters for businesses because rooftop solar is one of the few generation technologies that works at the individual building level — it directly reduces what you buy from the grid.
Heat pumps are delivering
Heat pumps now deliver more renewable energy than all of Ireland’s solar PV combined. Ambient heat from heat pumps grew 18.7% year-on-year, with 153,000 homes now equipped (up from 119,000). The commercial heat pump market is following the residential trend, and for good reason — they’re the most practical path to decarbonising heating in most commercial buildings.
What’s Not Improving Fast Enough
Heat is still overwhelmingly fossil
This is the number that should concern every building owner: 89.8% of Ireland’s heat demand is still met by fossil fuels — oil at 43.2% and gas at 40.4%. Renewable heat stands at just 8.5%, with a RES-H result of only 7.91%.
Total heat demand was 50.6 TWh in 2024, up 4.7% on 2023. The services sector alone accounted for 7.02 TWh of heat demand, up from 6.50 TWh the previous year. If your building uses gas or oil boilers for heating, you’re in the 90% majority — but that majority is increasingly expensive to be part of.
Energy demand keeps growing
Despite efficiency improvements in individual buildings and processes, aggregate demand keeps rising. Total final consumption was up 2.4% on 2023. The commercial services sector saw the largest increase in electricity demand — up 0.74 TWh (+5.8%) in a single year.
Over a decade, services sector energy consumption grew 42% — from 16.70 TWh in 2014 to 23.65 TWh in 2024. Much of this is driven by the ICT subsector (which accounts for 47.5% of commercial services energy), but wholesale/retail (17.2%) and accommodation/food services (11.7%) are significant contributors too.
Carbon budgets are being breached
Ireland’s first carbon budget period is already running over. The electricity sector is projected to overshoot its ceiling by 0.6 MtCO₂eq, and transport by a staggering 3.8 MtCO₂eq. The overall RES target stands at just 16.1% against a 2030 target of 43%.
Ireland needs approximately a 15% reduction in final energy consumption by 2030 to meet its targets. That’s not going to happen without every sector — including commercial buildings — contributing meaningfully.
The Data Centre Effect
This deserves its own section because the numbers are remarkable.
Data centres consumed 21.2% of all electricity in Ireland in 2024 — approximately 7.0 TWh. They have accounted for 88.2% of all electricity demand growth since 2015. No other sector comes close.
To put this in perspective: if you removed data centre growth from the equation, Ireland’s electricity demand would be essentially flat over the past decade. Instead, it’s growing — and that growth drives grid investment, capacity charges, and wholesale price pressure that affects every electricity customer.
This isn’t an argument against data centres. They bring investment and employment. But it does explain why your commercial electricity bills keep rising even if your own usage hasn’t changed. The grid expansion needed to serve concentrated, high-demand loads is partly funded through network charges on all customers.
What This Means for Irish Businesses
Here’s where the national statistics become personal.
Your energy costs have roughly doubled
Irish industrial electricity prices are now 131% higher in nominal terms than in 2020. Adjust for inflation, and they’re 150% higher in real terms — among the steepest increases in Europe. Gas prices to industry are 85% higher in real terms, and oil is up 33%.
If your energy costs feel higher than they used to, they are. This isn’t your imagination, and it’s not just a post-crisis hangover. Structural factors — carbon tax increases (rising to €100/tonne by 2030), network investment to support data centres and renewables, and Ireland’s import dependency — mean the direction of travel is up.
Commercial services demand is accelerating
The commercial services sector consumed 23.65 TWh in 2024, up 5.8% from 22.34 TWh in 2023. Electricity dominates the sector’s energy mix at 70.3% (16.63 TWh), followed by natural gas at 16.7% (3.95 TWh) and oil at 9.9% (2.35 TWh). Renewables account for just 3.0%.
This means most commercial buildings are heavily exposed to electricity price movements — and those prices show no sign of moderating.
Regulatory pressure is building
The EPBD (Energy Performance of Buildings Directive) is introducing minimum energy performance standards for commercial buildings. Ireland must transpose the directive into law, with the worst-performing buildings facing requirements first. Carbon budgets are being breached. BER ratings will increasingly affect property values, tenancy decisions, and lending terms.
The regulatory environment is tightening. Buildings that take no action face both rising running costs and falling asset values.
What You Can Actually Do About It
National statistics are useful for context. But what matters is what you do in your own building.
1. Know your numbers
You can’t manage what you don’t measure. If you don’t have a clear picture of your building’s energy consumption — broken down by end use, by time of day, by season — you’re guessing.
An energy monitoring system gives you visibility. A commercial energy audit gives you a prioritised action plan.
2. Start with the quick wins
Most commercial buildings have significant waste that can be addressed without major capital expenditure:
- Lighting: LED upgrades with occupancy and daylight controls. Payback typically under 2 years.
- Heating controls: Scheduling, zoning, and setpoint optimisation. Often near-zero cost with immediate savings.
- Equipment scheduling: Ensuring HVAC, IT, and kitchen equipment isn’t running when it doesn’t need to be.
- Building fabric basics: Draught-proofing, insulation top-ups, and window improvements where cost-effective.
3. Plan the bigger moves
For larger savings, consider:
- Heat pump retrofit: Replacing gas or oil boilers with air-source or ground-source heat pumps. This addresses the fossil heat problem directly and future-proofs your heating costs against carbon tax increases.
- Building envelope upgrades: Wall insulation, roof insulation, and high-performance glazing — particularly relevant for buildings facing EPBD standards.
- Solar PV: Rooftop generation that directly reduces your grid electricity purchases. With solar PV output growing 69% year-on-year nationally, the technology is well proven.
4. Use the available funding
SEAI business grants cover up to 50% of energy audit and upgrade costs for qualifying businesses. The Accelerated Capital Allowance lets you write off the full cost of qualifying energy equipment against tax in Year 1 — effectively a 12.5–25% discount depending on your tax rate.
These incentives won’t last forever. They’re designed to encourage early action, and they tend to tighten as compliance deadlines approach.
Next Steps
SEAI’s report confirms what many Irish businesses already feel: energy is getting more expensive, demand is rising, and the regulatory environment is tightening. The businesses that act early on efficiency have lower costs, more predictable bills, and buildings that are worth more — not less — as standards evolve.
The starting point is always the same: understand what your building is actually using, identify where the waste is, and prioritise the changes that deliver the best return.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the SEAI Energy in Ireland report?
Energy in Ireland is the SEAI’s annual statistical report tracking Ireland’s energy supply, demand, emissions, and progress toward national and EU targets. The 2025 edition covers final 2024 data with provisional 2025 estimates. It’s the most comprehensive single source of Irish energy statistics and is published every December.
How much of Ireland’s energy comes from fossil fuels?
In 2024, 81.3% of Ireland’s primary energy came from fossil fuels and 79.5% of all energy was imported. Renewable energy reached a record 14.6% of the primary energy mix — a significant improvement but still far short of Ireland’s 2030 target of 43%. Heat remains the biggest challenge, with 89.8% of heat demand still met by fossil fuels.
Why are Irish commercial electricity prices so high?
Irish industrial electricity prices have risen 150% in real terms since 2020, among the steepest increases in Europe. This is driven by gas price volatility feeding through to wholesale electricity costs, rising network charges to fund grid expansion (including for data centres), carbon tax increases, and the PSO levy supporting renewable generation. Ireland’s island grid and limited interconnection also contribute to structurally higher prices compared to continental Europe.
What percentage of Ireland’s electricity do data centres use?
Data centres consumed 21.2% of all electricity in Ireland in 2024 — approximately 7.0 TWh. They accounted for 88.2% of all electricity demand growth since 2015. This is relevant to all commercial electricity users because data centre demand puts pressure on generation capacity, network investment, and wholesale prices — costs that are shared across all customers.
How can Irish businesses reduce their energy costs?
Start with a commercial energy audit to identify where energy is being wasted. Common measures include lighting upgrades, heating controls optimisation, building fabric improvements, and equipment scheduling. SEAI grants cover up to 50% of audit and upgrade costs, and the Accelerated Capital Allowance offers full tax write-off in Year 1 for qualifying energy equipment. Most businesses achieve 15–30% savings with payback periods of 1–3 years.