RENEWABLE ENERGY in IRELAND 2020 Update
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RENEWABLE ENERGY IN IRELAND 2020 Update RENEWABLE ENERGY IN IRELAND 2020 Report RENEWABLE ENERGY IN IRELAND 2020 Report April 2020 1 RENEWABLE ENERGY IN IRELAND 2020 Report Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) is Ireland’s national energy authority, investing in and delivering appropriate, effective and sustainable solutions to help Ireland’s transition to a clean energy future. We work with the Government, homeowners, businesses and communities to achieve this, through expertise, funding, educational programmes, policy advice, research and the development of new technologies. SEAI is funded by the Government of Ireland through the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment. SEAI is the official source of energy data for Ireland. We develop and maintain comprehensive national and sectoral statistics for energy production, transformation and end-use. These data are a vital input in meeting international reporting obligations, advising policymakers and informing investment decisions. SEAI’s core statistics functions are to: • Collect, process and publish energy statistics to support policy analysis and development in line with national needs and international obligations • Conduct statistical and economic analyses of energy services sectors and sustainable energy options • Contribute to the development and promulgation of appropriate sustainability indicators. Acknowledgements SEAI gratefully acknowledges the cooperation of all the organisations, agencies, energy suppliers and distributors that provided data and responded to questionnaires throughout the year. © Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland Reproduction of the contents is permissible provided that the source is acknowledged. 2 RENEWABLE ENERGY IN IRELAND 2020 Report 2018 Highlights Progress towards targets Renewable heat • Overall renewable energy supply was 11% of gross • The amount of renewable energy used for heat final consumption. Ireland has a binding EU target increased by 65% between 2005 and 2018, albeit of 16% by 2020. from a low base. • Ireland is not on track to meet 2020 renewable • Renewable ambient energy captured by heat- energy targets. pumps increased by 182% between 2010 and 2018. There has been a large increase in the use • Ireland had the second lowest progress to meeting of air-source heat-pumps in the residential sector. the overall RES target of all EU Member States. • Ireland had the second lowest share of renewable • The share of renewable transport energy (RES-T), heat of all EU Member States. including adjustments, was 7.2%. Ireland has a binding EU target of 10% by 2020. • Ireland's poor performance in renewable heat is the biggest reason for us failing to achieve our • The share of renewable electricity (RES-E) was overall renewable energy target. 33.2%. Ireland has a national target of 40% by 2020. • The share of renewable heat (RES-H) was 6.5%. Renewable electricity Ireland has a national target of 12% by 2020. • 66% of renewable energy in 2018 was renewable electricity. Benefits of renewable energy • Renewable electricity forms the backbone of Ireland’s strategy to achieve the overall renewable • The use of renewable energy displaced fossil energy target for 2020. fuel use equivalent to 2 million tonnes of oil and avoided 4.9 million tonnes of CO2 emissions. This • Wind generated 28% of all electricity in 2018, was equivalent to 13% of total energy-related CO2 second only to natural gas. emissions. • Ireland is a world leader at incorporating large • 82% of CO2 emissions avoided from the use amounts of wind-generated electricity onto the of renewable energy were from electricity network. generation. Reducing the carbon intensity of • 358 MW of additional wind-generation capacity electricity is critical for meeting Ireland’s climate was installed in 2018. change objectives. • Other renewable electricity sources were: hydro 2.2%, bioenergy (biomass, biogas and landfill gas) Renewable transport 1.7%, renewable waste 1.1% and solar PV 0.1%. • More than 98% of RES-T was from bioenergy, • Ireland was 12th out of the EU-28 for RES-E. almost 88% was from biodiesel and 10% was from biogasoline. • 82% of liquid biofuels used in transport were imported. • 1% of renewable transport energy is from electricity. Most electricity used for transport is used by DART and Luas, but electricity for cars is growing rapidly as Ireland's fleet of electric vehicles grows quickly from a low base. • Ireland was 13th out of the EU-28 for RES-T. 3 RENEWABLE ENERGY IN IRELAND 2020 Report Renewable Energy in Ireland Data from 2018 RENEWABLE ENERGY TARGETS 2020 TARGETS Overall RES target 11.0% 16.0% 0.5% point increase from 2017 to 2018 Transport 7.2% 10.0% 0.2% point decrease from 2017 to 2018 Heat 6.5% 12.0% 0.2% point decrease from 2017 to 2018 Electricity 33.2% 40.0% 3.1% point increase from 2017 to 2018 Ireland is not on track to meet 2020 renewable energy targets 4.9 MtCO2 in avoided CO2 emissions of private from renewable energy which cars off is equivalent to removing 70% the road of this was avoided from 4 MtCO2 renewable electricity To download the full report, visit www.seai.ie/renewablereport 4 RENEWABLE ENERGY IN IRELAND 2020 Report RENEWABLES 3% TRANSPORT FOSSIL FUELS 97% Climate Action Plan targets… Expand our network of cycle paths and 1 million park & ride facilities electric vehicles No new diesel-only on the road by 2030 public buses in our cities + RENEWABLES 6.5% HEAT FOSSIL FUELS 93.5% Ireland is Heat pumps Climate Action Plan targets… 27th 75% out of the 28 renewable 600,000 EU countries for heat pumps renewable heat installed by 2030 of renewable heat 64% is used in industry most of this is biomass RENEWABLES 33% ELECTRICITY FOSSIL FUELS 67% Ireland has the Climate Action Plan targets… 2nd highest share of wind- Phase out generated electricity 70% coal and peat in the EU at 28% of electricity from for electricity renewables by 2030 generation 5 RENEWABLE ENERGY IN IRELAND 2020 Report What can YOU do? 35% Space heating Reducing energy waste is key to 43% HOUSEHOLD reducing your impact. The less Private ENERGY USE car use energy you use, the less energy that needs to be produced in the first place. So efficiency first! 11% Water heating 12% Cooking, lighting, appliances A few changes can make a big difference: If you think your community could benefit from getting involved in saving energy, find out about the SEAI sustainable communities network. Walk, cycle, use public transport or carpool where possible. Conversations with your When replacing family, friends and work your car, consider colleagues can have a big going electric. impact. Help them make Take climate better energy decisions. action Get a BER rating for your home to understand what upgrades could be done to improve your energy rating. Insulate your home. Then consider renewable This could include energy sources such as a increased attic, wall heatpump or solar panels. and floor insulation. To find out more how you can take climate action visit: seai.ie/takeclimateaction 6 RENEWABLE ENERGY IN IRELAND 2020 Report Table of contents 2018 Highlights 3 1 Overall renewable energy 9 1.1 Progress towards renewable energy targets 9 1.2 Renewables in the context of overall energy use 12 2 Displacement of fossil fuels and CO2 emissions 13 2.1 Avoided CO2 emissions 13 2.2 Contribution to indigenous energy 14 3 Renewable energy in transport 16 3.1 Progress towards renewable transport target 16 3.2 Biofuels 18 3.3 Renewable electricity in transport 19 4 Renewable energy in heat 20 4.1 Progress towards renewable heat target 20 4.2 Solid biomass and renewable waste 22 4.3 Biogas 23 4.4 Ambient energy from heat pumps 23 4.5 Solar thermal 24 5 Renewable energy in electricity 25 5.1 Progress towards renewable electricity target 25 5.2 Wind energy 26 5.2.1 Installed wind capacity 26 5.2.2 Capacity factors 27 5.2.3 Normalisation of wind energy 28 5.3 Hydro energy 29 5.3.1 Installed hydro capacity 29 5.3.2 Normalisation of hydro energy 29 5.3.3 Pumped hydro storage 29 5.4 Solid biomass 29 5.5 Renewable waste 30 5.6 Landfill gas 30 5.7 Biogas 30 5.8 Solar photovoltaic 30 6 EU comparison 31 6.1 Gross final consumption in EU by heat, transport and electricity 31 6.2 Overall RES 31 6.3 Renewable heat 33 6.4 Renewable electricity 34 6.5 Renewable transport 35 Glossary of abbreviations 36 Glossary of terms 37 Sources 39 Appendix 1: Methodology for calculating renewable energy shares 40 Appendix 2: Displacement of fossil fuels by renewable energy 43 7 RENEWABLE ENERGY IN IRELAND 2020 Report Table of Figures Figure 1: Renewable energy (normalised) by mode, 2000 to 2018 10 Figure 2: Renewable and fossil GFC by mode, 2018 11 Figure 3: Renewable energy use, 2000 to 2018 12 Figure 4: Renewable energy status in Ireland, 2018 12 Figure 5: Avoided CO2 from renewable energy, 2005 to 2018 13 Figure 6: Indigenous energy production by source, 1990 to 2018 14 Figure 7: Progress towards renewable transport energy target, 2005 to 2018 16 Figure 8: Renewable transport energy (without weightings), 2005 to 2018 17 Figure 9: Biofuels production, imports and usage, 2005 to 2018 18 Figure 10: Electricity used in transport, 2000 to 2018 19 Figure 11: Percentage RES-H by source, 2005 to 2018 20 Figure 12: Renewable heat energy by sector, 2005 to 2018 21 Figure 13: Solid biomass used for heat by sector, 2005 to 2018 22 Figure 14: Normalised share of RES-E by source, 2005 to 2018 25 Figure 15: Installed wind-generation capacity, 2000 to 2019 26 Figure 16: Monthly