Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
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63. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment to provide an update on renewable energy production in Ireland to date in 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41454/24]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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A renewables-led system is one of the core foundations of Ireland’s plan to radically reduce emissions in the electricity sector, protect our energy security, and ensure our economic competitiveness.

Climate Action Plan 2023 (CAP 23), reaffirmed by CAP 24, sets Ireland an ambitious target of 80% of electricity demand from renewables by 2030.

Accelerating the deployment of renewable energy generation, especially onshore wind and solar this decade, is fundamental to meet our climate and energy targets. Evidence shows that our plans are working, as the EPA reported earlier this year that our greenhouse gas emissions in 2023 were the lowest they’ve been in three decades, with the energy sector reporting an unprecedented reduction of 23.6% in greenhouse gas emissions.

In 2023, 40.7% of electricity demand in Ireland was met by renewable sources, with wind providing the majority of that (33.7%). The remaining 7% was met by other renewable sources such as solar, hydro, and biomass.

Figures published by the SEAI in September show that emissions from the electricity sector over the first six months of 2024 were down 17.2% on the same period last year, while grid-scale renewable generation accounted for 48.9% of electricity generation, an increase of 5.9% on the same period in 2023.

Ireland has over 6 GW of renewable generation. Onshore wind is the greatest contributor to this with circa 5 GW of installed capacity. Solar PV contributes over 1.1 GW, divided between grid-scale and rooftop generation, while we have 25 MW of offshore wind. Other smaller forms of renewable generation, such as hydro and biomass, also contribute.

The very successful fourth onshore RESS auction, RESS 4, secured an additional potential increase of over 20% in Ireland’s renewable energy capacity, at lower prices than the previous two auctions.