5. ELECTRICITY AND RENEWABLES

Ireland is interconnected with the United Kingdom and has had increased electricity trade in the last five years. Ireland went from being a net importer of electricity to a net exporter in 2016.

New wholesale market rules became effective on 1 October 2018, bringing the electricity market in alignment with the European Union (EU) target model.

Supply and demand

Generation and trade

Electricity generation has increased steadily in Ireland over several decades, except for the years following the economic crisis in 2008-13. Electricity generation has picked up again since 2014. It reached a record 30.7 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2017, a 19% increase in the three years from 2014 (Figure 5.2).

Natural gas is the largest power source in Ireland, accounting for 51% of total electricity generation in 2017. The total share of fossil fuels was 71%, down from 90% in 2007. The use of coal has decreased, but the share of peat has remained stable over the past decade at 7%. The role of oil in electricity generation remains small at 1%.

Electricity generated from renewable sources of energy (renewable electricity) is rapidly increasing in Ireland. The share of renewable electricity almost tripled in a decade, from 10% in 2007 to 29% in 2017, driven principally by growth in wind power. In 2017, wind accounted for 24% of total electricity generation. It was the second-largest source of electricity after natural gas and the third-highest share of wind generation among all IEA countries. Other renewables were hydro (2%), biofuels and waste (3%, of which 0.5% was non-renewable waste), plus a minuscule share of solar (0.02%).

Figure 5.2 Electricity generation by source and electricity trade, 1973-2017

Shares of natural gas and renewable energies have increased, and Ireland became a net exporter of electricity in 2016.

* Negligible.

Source: IEA (2018a), World Energy Balances 2018, www.iea.org/statistics/.

All of Ireland’s electricity trade is with or through the United Kingdom. Ireland was a net importer of electricity from 2002 until 2015; however, this shifted to a net exporting status in 2016 (see Figure 5.2).

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This reversal from importer to exporter was due to two factors. First, Ireland increased domestic generation, mainly from increased wind power. And second, the application of a higher carbon floor price of 18 pounds per tonne of carbon dioxide in the United Kingdom since 2016 pushed the interconnector with Ireland up the merit order in the United Kingdom at the expense of coal-fired generation in the United Kingdom.

Ireland’s share of fossil fuels in electricity generation was the eighth highest among IEA member countries in 2017, despite the increase in wind power (see Figure 5.3). Ireland had the highest share of peat and second-highest share of natural gas after Mexico.

Figure 5.3 Electricity generation by source in IEA countries, 2017

Estonia*

Poland

Australia

Mexico Netherlands Japan Greece Ireland Turkey Korea Italy

United States Portugal Czech Republic Germany

United Kingdom Spain Hungary Belgium Denmark Luxembourg Austria Canada Finland New Zealand

Slovak Republic France Norway Sweden Switzerland

Ireland has the highest share of peat and the third-highest share of wind among IEA countries.

* Estonia’s coal represents oil shale.

Source: IEA (2018a), World Energy Balances 2018, www.iea.org/statistics/.

Renewable electricity

Ireland generated 8.9 TWh of electricity from renewable energy sources in 2017. This accounted for 29% of the total electricity generation, up from 10% in 2007 (Figure 5.4). Hydro was the largest source of renewable electricity in Ireland until the early 2000s, but wind power has rapidly increased to the point where it accounted for 82% of the renewable electricity generated in 2017. Wind power is weather dependent, and production declined slightly in 2016 due to poor wind conditions, despite more installed power. Wind power increased again significantly in 2017, by over 20%.

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Figure 5.4 Renewable energy and waste in electricity generation, 1990-2017

After a drop in 2016 due to poor wind conditions, renewable electricity generation picked up again in 2017, and continued on the rapid growth trend of the last decade.

* Negligible.

Note: Includes non-renewable waste of around 0.160 TWh in 2017. Source: IEA (2018a), World Energy Balances 2018, www.iea.org/statistics/.

Ireland has around the median share of renewables in electricity generation among IEA member countries (Figure 5.5). Its share of wind power is the third highest after Demark and Luxembourg.

Figure 5.5 Renewable energy in electricity generation in IEA countries, 2017

Ireland’s share of renewable energy in electricity generation is around the median among IEA countries.

Note: Includes non-renewable waste.

Source: IEA (2018a), World Energy Balances 2018, www.iea.org/statistics/.

Carbon intensity of electricity supply

Ireland’s electricity generation is becoming less carbon intensive as a result of the switch from coal to natural gas and the strong increase in renewables. The carbon intensity of power and heat generation has halved from 750 grammes of carbon dioxide (gCO2) per kilowatt hour (kWh) in 1990 to 375 gCO2/kWh in 2017 (see Figure 5.6). This was the same level as the IEA total, but 34% above the total among IEA European countries.

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Figure 5.6 Carbon intensity of power and heat generation in Ireland and selected IEA countries, 1990-2017

The carbon intensity of Ireland’ electricity generation has halved since 1990, but remains higher than the IEA European total.

Note: 2017 data are estimated.

Source: IEA (2018b), CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion 2018, www.iea.org/statistics/.

Installed capacity

Ireland’s total installed power-generating capacity increased from 6.4 gigawatts (GW) in 2006 to 9.9 GW in 2016, equivalent to a 54% growth (see Table 5.1). Installation of wind farms has seen rapid growth in recent years, and the share of renewables in the total installed capacity has nearly tripled over the last decade.

Table 5.1 Installed electricity-generating capacity, 1990-2016 (megawatts (MW))

* Other includes internal combustion engines and other types of generation. Source: IEA (2018c), Electricity Information 2018, www.iea.org/statistics/.

Demand

Ireland consumed 25.7 TWh of electricity in 2016. This was a 2% increase from 2015, but a 3% decline from 2006 (see Figure 5.7). The industry sector dominates electricity consumption. In 2016, industry represented 39.5% of the total consumption, including around 5% for data centres (Host in Ireland/SEAI, 2017), followed by the residential sector (30.6%) and commercial sector (29.2%). The shares of the transport (0.2%) and energy sectors (0.4%) were negligible.

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Figure 5.7 Total final electricity consumption by consuming sector, 1974-2016

Final consumption of electricity slightly increased in 2016 compared to 2015, with a growth in all sectors.

*Energy includes petroleum refineries and brown coal briquettes plants.

**Commercial includes commercial and public services, agriculture and forestry. Source: IEA (2018a), World Energy Balances 2018, www.iea.org/statistics/.

There are significant seasonal variations in consumption and generation of electricity. Ireland’s electricity consumption peaks in the winter (see Figure 5.8). The monthly electricity production profiles show that power generation is matched well with the seasonal demand. Wind power generates more electricity in the winter than in the summer, but coal and gas remain essential to cover the higher demand during winter.

Figure 5.8 Monthly electricity generation by source, January 2013-September 2018

Wind power generation is largest in the winter and matches the demand profile, but coal and natural gas are required to cover variations in seasonal demand.

Source: IEA (2018d), Monthly Electricity Statistics 2018, www.iea.org/statistics/.

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