Renewable energy continues to play a growing role in Ireland electricity system
Renewable energy continued to play a growing role in Ireland’s electricity system in 2024, while energy use, transport demand and waste generation reflected the pressures of a larger economy and population, according to a new release from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The CSO said renewable sources accounted for 40.2% of electricity generation last year, a sharp increase from an average of just 5.1% in the early 1990s.
Wind remained the dominant renewable source, making up more than half of total renewable energy production in 2024.
Publishing its Environmental Indicators Ireland – Economy, Emissions and Energy release, the CSO also reported that environment-related taxes rose to €5.5bn in 2024, up 10.8% on the previous year.
Environmental subsidies and similar transfers reached €1.8bn in 2023, an increase of 14.7% on 2022.
Fossil fuel subsidies rose to €4.978bn in 2023, reflecting the introduction of temporary energy support measures in response to higher prices.
Commenting on the data, Reamonn McKeever, Statistician in the Environment Division of the CSO, said: “Today, we publish the CSO’s 2025 release on Environmental Indicators Ireland – Economy, Emissions and Energy.
“This release covers 48 indicators under six key themes.
"This is the second of two releases covering environmental indicators in Ireland with the first release on Global Context and Climate published earlier in December 2025.”
The release shows that Ireland’s renewable energy production has increased steadily over recent decades, rising from an average of 167 kilotonnes of oil equivalent in the early 1990s to 1,803 ktoe in 2024.
At the same time, emissions of sulphur oxides fell by 21.3% between 2022 and 2023, driven largely by reductions from power stations.
On electricity demand, total metered consumption stood at 31,903 gigawatt hours in 2024.
Large energy users, including data centres and cement manufacturing, accounted for 31% of consumption, up from 14.8% in 2015.
Transport trends pointed to a return to pre-pandemic patterns. International passenger journeys through Irish airports reached 40.7 million in 2024, exceeding 2019 levels.
Electric and hybrid vehicles made up 45.8% of new car licences, although the share of fully electric cars fell year on year.
The CSO also highlighted housing efficiency gains, with almost all homes built since 2020 achieving an A energy rating, while waste generation and biodiversity indicators continued to present longer-term challenges.
