Insights
Ireland has committed in law to cutting emissions by 51% by 2030, and to 80% renewable electricity. The latest projections say it is well off track. Here are the targets, where things stand, and what they mean for networks, suppliers and the systems behind them.
By Christopher Fagan, Managing Partner, PEF Consulting Partners
These targets are set out in the Climate Action Plan 2025, which remains the current plan while the 2026 update is prepared following a public consultation in June 2026.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s latest projections, published in May 2026, show existing and planned policies cutting emissions by up to 25% by 2030, roughly half of what the law requires. Ireland is projected to come close to meeting its first carbon budget for 2021 to 2025, but to overshoot the second by 53 to 82 million tonnes. In electricity, renewables are projected to reach 52% to 59% of supply by 2030 against the 80% target, held back by delays to offshore wind.
Progress is real. Renewables met around half of Ireland’s electricity demand in February, March and April 2026, and grid scale solar passed 1 GW for the first time in April 2026. The trajectory is simply not yet steep enough.
In December 2025 the CRU approved Price Review 6, allowing up to €18.9bn of electricity network investment from 2026 to 2030. The baseline is €13.8bn, of which €11.4bn is for ESB Networks and €2.4bn for EirGrid, rising with delivery. It is sized to connect up to 300,000 new homes, one million electric vehicles and 680,000 heat pumps, and to prepare EirGrid to receive 5 GW of offshore wind in early 2030. Network charges make up about 25% to 30% of an average bill, and the CRU expects them to rise by around €12 to €21 a year as a result.
Northern Ireland’s Climate Change Act 2022 sets a target of 80% renewable electricity by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2050. Renewables supplied 44.2% of electricity in the year to September 2025, the third annual fall in a row, which the industry body RenewableNI puts down to delays in policy and grid upgrades. A smart meter rollout, led by NIE Networks, is now being planned.
See what energy suppliers must change before 2030 for the system deadlines, and how we support suppliers and utilities in Ireland.
A 51% cut in emissions compared with 2018, set in law, and 80% renewable electricity, supported by 9 GW of onshore wind, at least 5 GW of offshore wind and 8 GW of solar.
No. The EPA’s May 2026 projections show a cut of up to 25% by 2030 against the 51% target, and renewables at 52% to 59% of electricity against 80%.
The CRU’s Price Review 6 decision for 2026 to 2030, allowing ESB Networks and EirGrid up to €18.9bn of network investment from a €13.8bn baseline.
The Climate Action Plan 2025. Its 2026 update went to public consultation in June 2026 and is still being prepared.
80% of electricity from renewables by 2030, under the Climate Change Act 2022. It stood at 44.2% in the year to September 2025.
Related reading: smart meters in Ireland, how the Irish electricity market works, supplier system changes before 2030.
If you are planning investment, systems or customer propositions around the 2030 targets, we can help you test the plan against what the market will actually demand, and then deliver it.