Fossil fuels fall to less than 50% of Ireland’s power mix in 2024 as coal exit looms

For the first time ever, fossil fuels met less than half of Ireland’s electricity needs in 2024 amid a surge in solar installations, according to data collated by local research group Green Collective.

Solar overtook coal as the country’s third-largest source of electricity generation in around the middle of the year, though the technology’s share of the total mix remained low at 2%. A slight increase in imports from the UK, which got most of its electricity from zero-carbon sources in 2024, also helped to displace domestic fossil fuels, as did higher biomass output.

Renewables and imports covered slightly over 50% of the nation’s electricity needs through the year.

Ireland’s fossil-powered plants were also a little less dirty in 2024 after a biomass facility stopped burning peat (the most carbon-intensive source of power), and oil generation declined to just 10% of what it was in 2019, Green Collective said in its 2024 review.

Further, coal generation was down 75% from 2021 levels and is expected to come to an end in the months ahead. Ireland’s planning body issued preliminary approvals for the country’s last coal plant to fully switch to oil combustion, and that should happen “towards the end of 2025,” Green Collective said.

The decline of fossil fuels in the mix comes after regulators reduced the minimum number of large fossil-powered units that must operate at any one time — a requirement for grid stability — from five to four.

The carbon intensity of Ireland’s power grid averaged 256gCO2/kWh in 2024, 8.6% lower than the year before.

Yes, but: The share of Ireland’s power demand met by wind has been stuck at around 35% for four years in a row, partly because output is frequently curtailed (wasted) and new wind farms are not coming online fast enough, Green Collective said, adding that new transmission infrastructure and energy storage facilities were needed.

While storage capacity didn’t increase much in 2024, the country’s big batteries have been participating more frequently during peak hours after regulators trimmed potential revenues from ancillary services.

Green Collective said Ireland’s electricity imports from the UK would likely increase further in 2025 thanks to the new Greenlink Interconnector. That should bring down the carbon intensity of Ireland’s grid, since Britain’s is cleaner.

Meanwhile, the shift from fossil fuels has been slowed by Ireland’s booming but power-hungry data centre industry. Data centres now consume over a fifth of the country’s electricity — more than all urban homes combined.

Nevertheless, the International Energy Agency expects Ireland to reach about 75% renewables in its power mix by 2030, placing it among the global frontrunners in the energy transition. One way the country is freeing up grid capacity for new wind and solar projects is through grid-enhancing technologies like dynamic line ratings.