IRELAND MUST REDUCE its energy consumption under a new EU energy efficiency directive agreed last year. 

The new rules adopted last June sets out that the final energy consumption at EU level must reduce by 11.7% in 2030.

Energy Minister Eamon Ryan today asked Cabinet to note the requirements of EU Member States, including Ireland, to reduce energy consumption.

Ireland’s target represents a 12.6% reduction on Ireland’s 2022 final energy consumption of 11.963 million tonnes of oil equivalent.

Minister Ryan also asked ministers to note that the trajectory, policies and measures to achieve this target are not required to be submitted at this time and will be the subject of further memo to Cabinet in the context of the National Energy and Climate Plan which is due in June 2024.

However, all EU member were required to notify the European Commission by February on what their country-specific targets for maximum energy usage would be in 2030.

Final energy consumption (FEC) is the total energy consumed by end users, such as households and industry.

The Energy Efficiency Directive further states that if a Member State submits figures that are less ambitious than the Commission can “correct” these figures and require the country to accept more challenging targets if the Commission determines that the proposed contribution is “insufficient”.

However, by accepting the figures generated by a set formula, it is immune from having them corrected by the Commission.

While a government spokesperson has said the achievement of Ireland’s target will be “very challenging”, the least risk option for Ireland is therefore deemed to be to accept the figures which the formula used in the directive has generated, which is 10.45 million tonnes of oil equivalent in final energy consumption.

Ryan noted that in his view, there are major benefits arising from improving energy efficiency across Irish society, including financial savings for households and businesses; reduced usage of fossil fuels; enhanced air quality and job creation through retrofitting schemes. 

Ministers were also told today that failure to implement these recommendations may eventually result in infringement proceedings against Ireland.

Progress on achieving the target will be evaluated by the European Commission on a biennial basis, with any deviations from the trajectory likely to trigger recommendations from the Commission for the implementation of policies and measures to put Ireland back on trajectory, it is understood.