National energy balance
SEAI's National Energy Balance is the definitive source of data for the supply, transformation, and demand of energy in Ireland. It is produced by SEAI's Energy Statistics Team and is based on the direct surveying of hundreds of energy suppliers, as well as public administrative data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC), Revenue Commissioners, and others.
On 21st May 2025, SEAI published the Interim Energy Balance for 2024.
Trends in Ireland's Energy Supply
- Ireland's overall energy requirement in 2024 was up 2.3%, with increases in oil, natural gas, renewables, and electricity.
- Despite drops in coal and peat, Ireland's overall use of fossil fuels increased by 0.7% in 2024.
- Fossil fuels continue to account for over four-fifths (81.4%) of Ireland's energy supply.
- Almost half (48.9%) of Ireland's energy comes from imported fossil fuel oil products.
- Ireland's energy import dependency was 79.7% in 2024, up from 78.3% in 2023 (for comparison, the EU average for 2023 was 58.3%).
- Ireland imported 100% of its oil, 79.5% of its gas, and 14.0% of its electricity in 2024.
Trends in Ireland's Energy-Related Emissions
- Ireland's energy related emissions in 2024 were down 1.3% on 2023, and are at their lowest level in over 30 years.
- Energy-related emissions have fallen each year for the last 3 years, and are down 11% on 2021-levels.
- SEAI estimates that electricity sector emissions in 2024 were down 7.5% on 2023.
- SEAI estimates that the transport sector emissions in 2024 were down 1.2% on 2023.
- SEAI estimates that emissions from heating were up 2.4% in 2024.
Trends in Ireland's Renewable Energy
- Renewable energy supplied 14.5% of Ireland's energy requirements, up slightly from 14.0% in 2023.
- 2024 saw increases in Biomass, Bioliquids, Solar-PV, and Ambient Heat from heat-pumps, but drops in Wind and Hydro generation.
- Electricity generation from Solar-PV was up by 66% in 2024.
- Renewable ambient heat from heat-pumps was up by 19% in 2024.
Trends in Ireland's Electricity Supply
- Ireland needed 4.1% more electricity supply in 2024 than in 2023.
- Despite adding renewable generation capacity in 2024, the overall share of renewable generation in the electricity supply in 2024 was 39.6%, down from 40.7% in 2023.
- Ireland imported 14.0% of its electricity across international interconnectors in 2024, up from 9.5% in 2023.
- After electricity generation from natural gas (42.1%) and wind (31.7%), net imports of electricity across interconnectors were the third largest source of electricity supply in 2024.
Background & Timing of Releases
SEAI publishes the interim National Energy Balance annually in early May to provide details on the supply and transformation of Ireland's national energy portfolio in the previous year. SEAI publishes the full National Energy Balance annually in early September, which builds on the interim data by adding details on how Ireland's energy demand is apportioned over different sectors of the economy, e.g. the residential, commercial, and transport sectors.
In addition to providing insights into Ireland's energy landscape, the Energy Balance is a key input into the EPA's Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory, and so directly informs emission results against our legally binding carbon budget, sectoral ceiling obligations. The Energy Balance is used to determine Ireland's results against national and European targets on renewable energy share (RES), and our targets mandated by the EU Energy Efficiency Directive (EED). Data from the Energy Balance is also used to satisfy Ireland's international reporting obligations to the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the European Commission under Regulation (EC) No 1099/2008 on Energy Statistics.
SEAI works to continuously improve the statistical methodology and coverage of the Energy Balance, balancing the availability of new data sources with the need for long-term stability for cross-year comparisons. We welcome feedback to [email protected].