EU Tracker – Local heating and cooling plans in Ireland
Summary
What is the status of the transposition of Art 25.6(EDD) and its implementation ?
Ireland is partially ready for implementing article 25.6 of the Energy Efficiency Directive, but a clearer regulatory and support framework for heating and cooling planning will be needed.
While Ireland is significantly underperforming in terms of renewable heat, with over 90% of thermal energy coming from fossil fuels, the national government has in recent years considerably strengthened its ambition and level of suppot to decarbonise heat. All of the Republic’s 31 local authorities are obliged to develop a ‘Local Authority Climate Action Plan’ every five years including climate mitigation measures aligned to national targets, and which contain some elements of heat planning. These plans could however include a stronger emphasis on strategic heat or energy planning integrated with spatial planning. Improvements will also be needed for access to energy-related geodata.
Detailed assessment
The legal framework and the obligations
A Climate Action Plan containing some elements of heat planning is mandatory for all Irish local authorities
Overview of the legal frameworks per governance level in Ireland
| National | Ireland’s Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act adopted in 2021 sets a national climate objective to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 51% by 2030 and to reach net zero emissions by 2050. The national Climate Action Plan, adopted in 2021 works complementary to the law, and sets sector specific targets and measures. It sets an indicative emission reduction targets at 44-56% for buildings with complementary measures for efficient and renewable heating sources, including district heating, and energy refurbishment of buildings. The Irish government agreed upon Introducing a Renewable Heat Obligation (RHO) in 2022, taking into account the findings and recommendations of the 2022 National Heat Study which called for more ambitious measures to decarbonize heat. Remaining in the stage of consultation without a final scheme presented, the RHO aims to support an increased use of renewable energy in the heat sector and contribute to a reduction in emissions in line with national and EU emission reduction targets and climate-neutrality objectives. The obligation will mainly set requirements for installation of more efficient heating systems including heat pumps and district heating but has so far not been explicitly linked to local energy and climate planning. |
| Local | Sections 15 and 16 of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act set a requirement for all Irish local authorities to prepare a ‘Local Authority Climate Action Plan’ every 5 years. The plans should include measures aligned with those set in the climate action plan and thus target the supply and demand of energy. The act also requires that all new buildings comply with high standards of energy performance and environmental sustainability. The act also provides for the preparation and implementation of climate action plans, which will detail the actions for each sector based on the carbon budgets. Local authorities are strongly encouraged but not obliged to forge strong links between their climate action plans and their spatial planning documents for maximising their regulatory and strategic capacity to reduce emissions. The Dublin Region Energy Master Plan published in 2021, the first of its kind in Ireland, can work as a guiding example to bridge the gap between energy and spatial planning: Based on detailed local-level, spatially-driven energy scenario modelling, it is used to guide spatial and land-use planning in alignment to climate targets. |
The support framework
Significant steps taken in financial and technical support for local heating and cooling planning
Support mechanisms for municipal climate and energy planning in Ireland have been emergent in recent years. The national government has created four Climate Action Regional Offices (CAROs) to strenthen their capacity for climate and energy related planning and action, alongside funding streams for these purposes accessible to municipalities. Technical and organisational guidance could however be improved and more explicitly targeted to energy or local heating and cooling planning which remains novel in the Irish context, as well as access to granular energy-related geodata. The national government should also ensure that efforts to build capacity are sustained and not restricted to the larger metropolitan areas.
Provided Support
| Technical and organisational | 3/5 | Ireland has no comprehensive technical support framework in place to support heating and cooling planning. Discussions have been held about setting up a task force to bring support mechanisms and streamline resources for energy planning, but has not been officially confirmed. However, in 2018, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) established four Climate Action Regional Offices (CAROs) to assist local authorities in building capacity to engage effectively on climate change mitigation and adaptation issues, which could serve as a strong base to assist municipalities for strategic and integrated energy planning. |
| Financial | 3/5 | Irish municipalities receive no dedicated funding to local heating and cooling planning. There are however national support schemes in place to support the drafting of Local Authority Climate Action Plans and for specific projects related to renewable and efficient heating. Municipalities can receive funding provided by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications to deploy specialists to the ‘climate action teams’ responsible for the delivery and the implementation of the plan. Irish municipalities are also eligible to partial funding for projects directed towards renewable and efficient heating projects from two major national programmes. The Climate Action Fund (CAF) will provide more than €500 million in government funding up to 2027, with a dedicated scheme for district heating projects which cover 50 % of the project cost. The Sustainable Scheme for Renewable Heat (SSRH) covers 40% funding for renewable heat projects. |
| Staff & skills | 3/5 | The national government provides a robust framework of human resources and training programs to build the competence needed for local heating and cooling planning. The Climate Action Training Programme for Local Authorities offers online training courses through the existing Regional Training Centre network. Communities and voluntary stakeholders can take advantage of the support of the regional CAROs as well. The government is focusing on areas where education, apprenticeships and professional development, via organisations such as SOLAS or Skillnet Ireland can enhance awareness, knowledge and skills related to sustainability and the green economy. The national government funds local employees who are allocated to various areas for the development of heating and cooling projects. As an illustration, for the development of the Dublin Region Energy Master Plan, between three to four dedicated staff were allocated over a period of two to three years. Each person covers in parallel various areas of research, such as heat, electricity, transport, along with energy efficiency measures. |
| Access to data | 3/5 | Access to data in heating and cooling for municipalities in Ireland is fragmented. The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) manages a public Monitoring and Reporting (NMR) system offering data sets and a Geographic Information System (GIS), with data available for renewable energy sources and heating demand at district level – however with insufficient granularity for use for detailed heating planning assessments The National Heat Study provides complementary data on the potential for biomass and biogas. Data on waste heat from industry and incinerators is only available for Dublin (Codema). Local authorities in Ireland however have complete access to data on buildings, including energy performance, heating systems and fuels through the Central Statistical Office. For data on energy infrastructures, local authorities have partial access to the spatial position of energy grids for electricity, gas and district heating. Utilities providers are not obligated to share data on energy demands for the buildings, which is provided by consultation. |
