Electricity
Modern societies depend on reliable and secure supplies of electricity. Electricity generation accounts for a third of all primary energy use in Ireland.
Energy flow for electricity generation
Electricity generated
On the left hand side are the fuel inputs to electricity generation. On the right hand side are the amounts of electricity generated by each of the fuel inputs, and the total energy lost during electricity generation. Total energy inputs to electricity generation account for approximately one third of Ireland's total primary energy supply.
Generation efficiency
There is a significant difference in the shares of electricity generated by fuel compared to the fuel inputs. This is due to the different efficiencies of generating electricity in different processes. Generating electricity in traditional thermal power plants using coal, peat or biomass has low efficiency. Electricity generated from wind and hydro is 100% efficient.
A significant portion of the energy used to generate electricity is lost before the electricity reaches the final end-user, through a combination of transformation losses, own use of electricity by power plants, pumped hydro storage losses and transmission losses.
Primary inputs to electricity generation
The graph shows the trends in primary energy supply for electricity generation broken-out by fuel type and energy source.
Note that non-combustible renewable sources accounted for a higher share of generated electricity than of primary energy supply for electricity generation. This is because the thermal generation of electricity from natural gas and coal has significant energy losses, while electricity generation from non-combustible renewable sources (wind, hydro and solar) is considered to be 100% efficient.
Electricity generated by fuel
Download electricity generated by fuel data
The above chart details the generated electricity available for final consumption by end users, broken out by fuel type and energy source.
Combined Heat and Power
Higher efficiency
In conventional thermal electricity generation, we typically lose 60% of the energy input as waste heat. Combined Heat and Power (CHP) systems use this valuable heat energy to generate both useful heat and electricity from a single combustion process. CHP plant efficiency is usually 20% to 25% higher than heat-only boilers and conventional power stations combined. Also, these plants are physically closer to the users of their generated heat and electricity, for example at hotels or factories.
Combined heat and power also avoids some of the transmission losses incurred by centralised generation.
See the download below for more information on CHP in Ireland.
CO₂ emissions intensity of electricity
Trend in electricity CO2 intensity
This chart shows the CO2 emission intensity of Ireland's electricity supply, which is measured in gCO2/kWh. The stacked bars show the share of CO2 emissions by fuel for each kWh of electricity supplied in Ireland. It is important to note that the stacked bars in the graph represent the contributions of different fuels to the overall CO2 intensity of Ireland's electricity supply, not the CO2 intensity of the individual fuels themselves.