Energy Use Overview

This graph shows the energy balance for Ireland.

Primary energy

On the left are the primary energy inputs to the Irish energy system. Primary energy includes the raw fuels that are used for transformation processes such as electricity generation and oil refining. The sum of all primary energy is the Total Primary Energy Requirement (TPER).

Final energy

On the right are the sources of demand for final energy. Final energy includes the energy used directly in the different sectors such as transport, residential and industry. Final energy does not include energy lost during transformation processes such as electricity generation. The sum of all final energy used in all sectors is known as Total Final Consumption (TFC).

Also on the right is the energy that is lost during transformation processes such as electricity generation and oil refining. The electricity system has become much more efficient since 2000 but is still only just over 50% efficient. This means that almost half of all the energy used to generate electricity is lost before it gets to the final customer.

Total primary energy requirement peaked 2008 before the economic downturn and reached a minimum in 2014 before growing to a relatively stable level from 2016 to 2019. A significant contraction followed in 2020 due to the impacts of the COVID pandemic; this contraction was mostly confined to oil products, caused by a downturn in transport demand.

In absolute terms, Ireland’s current total primary energy requirement is comparable that from 20 and 10 years ago, despite intervening periods of significant growth and decline. Nevertheless, the mix of fuels and energy types in primary energy has evolved significantly during this time. The broad trend has been the growth of renewables and natural gas displacing oil, coal and peat. Despite the meaningful development of renewables, fossil fuels still dominate Ireland’s primary energy supply.

The broad reduction in final energy use across all sectors from 2008 to 2012 is attributed to the international economic downturn, with the industry, transport and services sectors returning to growth after 2012, and growth in the residential sector delayed until 2014.

The reduction in 2020 final energy use was due to the COVID-19 restrictions and was almost entirely limited to the transport sector. Prior to 2020, final energy demand for transport had risen every year since 2012. Transports remains the sector with greatest final energy use followed in order by the residential sector, industry and services.

It is useful to split energy supply or use into the three modes of electricity, transport, and heat. These represent distinct energy services and markets, and also map onto national and European renewable energy targets. To avoid double-counting across modes, any heat and transport energy provided by electricity (e.g. electric heaters and electric vehicles) is counted in the electricity mode only, not the heat or transport modes. This ensures that summing across the three modes gives a consistent total energy use.

The transport and heat modes historically account for approximately 40% of final energy use each, with the electricity mode accounting for the remaining 20%. The electricity mode has increased steadily over the period. The heat mode shows the greatest year-to-year fluctuations, due to its sensitivity to weather effects. Final energy use in transport decreased during the 2008-2012 recession and again during the COVID-19 restrictions in 2020 and 2021; outside of these events, final energy use in the transport mode has increased each year.