Ireland exceeded its 2024 targets for home energy upgrades, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) has said, with nearly 54,000 properties retrofitted last year.
The total number of 53,984 retrofits is a 13% increase on the previous year’s figures, and ‘shows continued momentum in home energy upgrades’, according to the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment.
‘Steady progress and delivery’
“This report shows continued steady progress and delivery across SEAI home energy upgrade schemes,” commented Minister Darragh O’Brien TD. “It’s particularly positive to see that there was a 31% increase in the delivery of upgrades for energy poverty households, with over 7,700 completed in 2024 – this works out at an average of 150 upgrades every week last year.”
According to the SEAI 2024 Full Year Retrofit Report, as of the end of last year, the Irish government has invested €1.2 billion in energy upgrades across 186,000 homes and 156 community energy projects. Half of this (€600 million) was invested in homes struggling with energy poverty.
Technical milestones achieved included 21,800 homes reaching BER B2 standard (up 24% on 2023), 3,600 heat pumps being installed, and solar PV uptake growing by 28%, reaching 160 MW of new capacity.
Residential upgrades in 2024 led to 146 GWh in energy savings and a total of 68kt in CO2 savings.
Meeting the target
“If we are to meet Ireland’s Climate Action Plan target of 500,000 B2 home energy upgrades, together we need to deliver on average 75,000 B2-equivalent home upgrades each year from 2026 to 2030 across the system,” William Walsh, CEO of the SEAI, added. “It’s vitally important that pace and engagement continue to support the realisation of Ireland’s energy transition.”
This year, the government will focus on “educating and motivating homeowners on the benefits of home energy upgrades, such as lower energy bills, better BERs, as well as the wide range of grants and supports available for homeowners to make the switch to heat pumps,” he noted. Read more here.
