While Ireland continues to make progress in its transition to cleaner energy, the country remains ‘heavily dependent’ on imported fossil fuels, and therefore exposed to international energy price volatility, according to a new report by Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI).
As the SEAI’s First Look: Ireland’s Energy Supply and Security of Supply 2025 report found, renewable energy accounted for a record 15.9% of Ireland’s total energy requirements in 2025, up 6.9% from the year before.
However, close to four fifths (78.2%) of the country’s energy requirements continued to be met through imports last year, well above the EU average of 57.3%.
As SEAI noted, close to 93% of these imports were fossil fuels, including all of the country’s oil and coal requirements, and over 82% of its natural gas needs.
‘Too reliant’
“While we are making some progress on renewables – with solar in particular continuing its remarkable growth, Ireland is still too reliant on imported fossil fuels, leaving our economy vulnerable to events outside of our control,” commented William Walsh, CEO, SEAI.
“We’ve seen in recent months how quickly sharp increases in global oil and gas prices can feed into our home heating bills, transport costs and overheads for business. By continuing to invest in our country’s huge potential for wind and solar, we can give homes and businesses better security and certainty over the cost of the energy they use, as well as improving health and comfort levels.”
The UK remained Ireland’s largest energy supplier, accounting for 55.5% of all energy imports in 2025, followed by the US (16.9%) and EU countries (16.2%).
Fossil fuel consumption
Other findings from SEAI‘s analysis include that fossil fuel consumption in Ireland fell by 4.7% last year, driven by a 45% reduction in coal use. In addition, Ireland’s overall energy requirement declined by 2.2% compared with 2024, while energy-related carbon emissions fell by 3.7% to their lowest level in more than 30 years.
“We made some good progress last year, getting our reliance on fossil fuel down below 80% for the first time and bringing renewable energy share to record levels, but we need to do a lot more,” Walsh added.
“Continuing to grow our capacity for wind and solar, improving energy efficiency – doing more with less, and reducing overall energy demand will be critical to strengthening Ireland’s energy security, reducing dependence on imported fuels and building a more resilient, affordable and sustainable energy system.” Read more here.
