ENERGY POLICIES OF IEA COUNTRIES Ireland 2019 Review Secure Sustainable Together ENERGY POLICIES OF IEA COUNTRIES Ireland 2019 Review INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY The IEA examines the IEA member IEA association full spectrum of energy countries: countries: issues including oil, gas and coal supply and Australia Brazil demand, renewable Austria China energy technologies, Belgium India electricity markets, Canada Indonesia energy efficiency, access Czech Republic Morocco to energy, demand side Denmark Singapore management and much Estonia South Africa more. Through its work, Finland Thailand the IEA advocates policies France that will enhance the Germany reliability, affordability and Greece sustainability of energy in Hungary its 30 member countries, Ireland 8 association countries Italy and beyond. Japan Korea Luxembourg Mexico Netherlands New Zealand Norway Poland Portugal Slovak Republic Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey United Kingdom United States The European Commission also participates in the work of the IEA Please note that this publication is subject to specific restrictions that limit its use and distribution. The terms and conditions are available online at www.iea.org/t&c/ Source: IEA. All rights reserved. International Energy Agency Website: www.iea.org Foreword The International Energy Agency (IEA) has conducted in-depth peer reviews of its member countries’ energy policies since 1976. This process not only supports energy policy development but also encourages the exchange of and learning from international best practices and experiences. In short, by seeing what has worked – or not – in the “real world”, these reviews help to identify policies that achieve objectives and bring concrete results. Recently, the IEA has moved to modernise the reviews by focusing on some of the key energy challenges in today’s rapidly changing energy markets. FOREWORD Ireland is successfully advancing the low-carbon transformation of its energy sector, and the power sector is leading the way for decarbonisation. In 2017, Ireland had the third-highest share of wind in electricity generation of all IEA member countries. I am pleased to see that, thanks to the country’s substantial innovation capacity, the Irish electricity system is ready to accommodate an even larger share of wind generation. Despite the progress made, Ireland faces challenges in its short- and medium-term climate and energy targets. In this review, we recommend that the government set trajectories towards those targets and the means of achieving them. This could include building on the success of many new energy efficiency policies, which is something that will be explored in the fourth annual IEA Global Conference on Energy Efficiency to be hosted by Ireland in June 2019. One of Ireland’s main challenges towards a low-carbon energy future is the decarbonisation of heat in the housing sector. The IEA applauds that revised regulations require all new buildings from January 2019 onwards to install renewable energy systems. A similar push is needed in the rental market for existing houses, and we recommend that the government considers the introduction of minimum energy efficiency standards in the rental sector to give a push to renovation. The aim of this report is to support Ireland in its quest for a secure, affordable, and environmentally sustainable transformation of its energy sector. It is my hope that it will guide Ireland in its energy transition and support its contribution to a cleaner, more sustainable, and secure global energy system. Dr Fatih Birol Executive Director International Energy Agency 3 IEA. All rights reserved. reserved. rights All IEA. ENERGY INSIGHTS 1. Executive summary .....................................................................................................11 Transition to a low-carbon energy future ...........................................................................11 Decarbonisation of heat.....................................................................................................13 Interconnections ................................................................................................................14 Energy security ..................................................................................................................15 Key recommendations .......................................................................................................16 2. General energy policy .................................................................................................17 Country overview ...............................................................................................................17 CONTENTS OF TABLE Supply and demand ...........................................................................................................20 Institutions ..........................................................................................................................25 Policy framework ...............................................................................................................26 Security of supply ..............................................................................................................30 Assessment .......................................................................................................................32 Recommendations .............................................................................................................34 ENERGY SECURITY 3. Oil ..................................................................................................................................35 Overview ............................................................................................................................35 Supply and demand ...........................................................................................................36 Market structure .................................................................................................................40 Prices and taxes ................................................................................................................41 Infrastructure......................................................................................................................43 Emergency response policy ..............................................................................................46 Assessment .......................................................................................................................49 Recommendations .............................................................................................................50 4. Natural gas ...................................................................................................................51 reserved. Overview ............................................................................................................................51 rights All 5 IEA. TABLE OF CONTENTS Supply and demand ...........................................................................................................52 Upstream development .....................................................................................................55 Institutions ..........................................................................................................................58 Market structure .................................................................................................................58 Prices and tariffs ................................................................................................................59 Infrastructure......................................................................................................................61 Emergency response .........................................................................................................65 Assessment .......................................................................................................................67 Recommendations .............................................................................................................69 5. Electricity and renewables .........................................................................................71 Overview ............................................................................................................................71 Supply and demand ...........................................................................................................72 Retail prices and taxes ......................................................................................................77 Institutions ..........................................................................................................................79 Market structure .................................................................................................................79 Networks ............................................................................................................................87 Renewable electricity .........................................................................................................92 Assessment .......................................................................................................................95 Recommendations .............................................................................................................98 ENERGY SYSTEM TRANSFORMATION 6. Energy and climate..................................................................................................