Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 6 November 2024
24. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he will provide a breakdown of national gas demand, by sector (details supplied); if he will provide data on the changes in demand for each sector over the past two years; and his views on the implications of this demand for Ireland’s energy and climate goals. [45427/24]
View answerThe Irish Government has ambitious climate and energy targets to successfully transition to a carbon-neutral economy by 2050.
Gas demand is expected to drop significantly through the course of the decade from 2030 and production of renewable gases are set to increase as well as the introduction of renewable gas compatible storage. This will enable security of supply benefits to be delivered without committing to a long-term dependence on natural gas.
My Department has received the following information from Gas Networks Ireland with regard to national gas demand.
For the purposes of comparison, Gas Networks Ireland has provided data from January to September for 2024 with the same period the two previous years; January to September in 2022 and 2023.
Gas Networks Ireland has summarised the requested data in the table below as a percentage of overall Irish gas demand for the applicable period.
|
Sector |
Jan-Sep (2022) |
Jan-Sep (2023) |
Jan-Sep (2024) |
|
Total ROI Gas Demand (TWh) |
42.2 |
39.2 |
38.8 |
|
ROI Power Generation |
66% |
66% |
64% |
|
Residential |
11% |
10% |
11% |
|
Small and Medium Enterprises |
7% |
7% |
8% |
|
Industrial and Commercial |
17% |
17% |
18% |
|
CNG |
0.04% |
0.05% |
0.07% |
|
Construction |
1% |
0% |
1% |
|
Education Campuses |
0.1% |
0.1% |
0.2% |
|
Food and Beverage |
8% |
8% |
8% |
|
Hospital |
1% |
1% |
1% |
|
Laundry |
0.2% |
0.2% |
0.2% |
|
Leisure / Sport Arenas |
0.1% |
0.1% |
0.1% |
|
Manufacturing* |
2% |
2% |
3% |
|
Medical Devices |
1% |
1% |
1% |
|
Office Complexes |
0.1% |
0.1% |
0.1% |
|
Pharmaceutical |
3% |
3% |
3% |
|
Prison |
0.05% |
0.05% |
0.05% |
|
Retail |
0.1% |
0.1% |
0.05% |
|
Air Travel |
0.1% |
0.1% |
0.1% |
|
Waste Management |
0.2% |
0.1% |
0.1% |
|
Hotel |
0.2% |
0.2% |
0.2% |
Please note that:
Data has been rounded to nearest whole number for ease of review.
Manufacturing* includes oil refining and data centres. Given the small number of customers in these categories, data is aggregated.
