Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 13 June 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action

Decarbonisation of the Heat Sector: Discussion

Mr. Ronan Coffey:

To give some context, this is a building that had not been occupied for some time. It was a retrofitted project to create a new, controlled environment in an existing shell. It was done against the backdrop of the commitments we had made in 2017 to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. More significantly, we had also committed to using 90% renewable energy by 2027. Around 2020 or 2021, those undertakings distilled into a decision not to add any more gas-consuming equipment to our network. We had settled on our strategy for achieving our target of 90% of renewable energy in respect of the electrification of heat, backed up by renewable electricity. All new construction projects must now meet these criteria. We do not add any more gas-consuming equipment to new projects.