Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 6 May 2026
70. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment if any forthcoming Statutory Instrument to transpose Article 12 of the Energy Efficiency Directive (2023/1791) will include the implementation and governance for real-time emissions reporting by Large Energy Users, as referenced in Action 12 of the Large Energy-user Action Plan (LEAP), or if separate primary legislation will be required to achieve this ambition. [32041/26]
View answerThe Large Energy-User Action Plan (LEAP) sets out the Government's approach to planning for sustainable new energy intensive industrial developments by preparing for a plan-led approach to the location of very large energy user sectors, especially in the period beyond 2030. This includes the identification of green energy park locations which will facilitate co-locating the most energy intensive industrial developments with indigenous renewable energy supply. This will support accelerating renewable energy deployment, expediting grid investment and streamlining planning in alignment with our national objectives for decarbonisation, digitalisation and competitiveness.
The LEAP also sets out a framework for a coherent, whole of system energy assessment of where large enterprise growth could develop on the energy system and how it can do so in spatial alignment with the deployment of renewable generation and wider economic developments. To ensure ongoing decarbonisation of the electricity system, and of Large Energy User (LEU) demand loads in particular, the LEAP considers a near ‘real-time’ emissions measurement is required and will explore, in-line with existing and emerging EU legislation, the opportunities for real-time emissions reporting data infrastructure, to enable accurate emissions data, aggregation and reporting, and obligating its use by LEUs. This exercise is being considered as part of wider 2026 Departmental workplans and resourcing requirements in addition to the implementation of LEAP within the Department more generally. Furthermore, officials are liaising with colleagues in the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment who are establishing governance arrangements to support LEAP implementation.
Article 12 of the Energy Efficiency Directive 2023/1791 (‘EED’) provides for an obligation to require owners and operators of certain sized data centres to monitor and make publicly available annually, subject to Union and national law protecting trade and business secrets and confidentiality, information on key metrics on their energy and sustainability performance. The required indicators relate to energy consumption, cooling, waste heat utilisation, water usage and renewable energy use, among others. Real-time emissions reporting by Large Energy Users is not a requirement under Article 12.
