Transport Energy

Energy use in transport increased in 2018 by 2.6%, to a total of 5,202 kilotonnes of oil equivalent (ktoe). Of this energy consumed, 96.6% was derived from petroleum products, with virtually all of the remainder coming from renewables.

The government is committed to decarbonising Ireland’s transport sector, which currently makes up 20% of Ireland’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment (DCEE) works on transitioning Ireland’s transport sector away from the use of fossil fuels towards lower carbon alternatives, particularly zero-emission technologies such as Electric Vehicles (EVs).

The main components of DCEE's work on Transport Energy include this emphasis on supporting the growth of EVs though financial and policy measures as well as managing the government’s Biofuels Obligation Scheme and supporting lower carbon transport fuels like hydrogen and compressed natural gas.

The Climate Action Plan set out a range of actions in order to tackle climate disruption in Ireland. There are a number of actions under the plan relating to transport energy.

Biofuels are renewable liquid or gaseous fuels used in transport and are created from biomass material. In general, biofuels are deployed blended with fossil fuels in Ireland with bioethanol blended with gasoline in petrol (up to 5% volume) and biodiesel blended with fossil diesel (up to 7%). Bioethanol is typically produced from crops such as corn, wheat and sugar cane with biodiesel produced from oil crops such as rapeseed as well as from wastes such as used cooking oil and animal fats.

The use of biofuels brings a wide range of environmental benefits including the reduction of greenhouse gas and other emissions. Additionally, increasing demand for biofuels provides opportunities for their production in Ireland.

Biofuels Obligation Scheme

The Biofuels Obligation Scheme was introduced in 2010 and is administered by the National Oil Reserves Agency (NORA). It is a certificate based scheme which sets out an obligation that suppliers of road transport fuels must include a certain percentage of environmentally sustainable biofuels across their general fuel mix. The scheme works by ensuring that each supplier fulfils their requirement by having the necessary number of biofuel certificates required.

A consultation was held in December 2017 and January 2018 on the Biofuels Obligation Scheme. The responses informed the publication of a Biofuels Obligation Scheme Policy Statement which was published in April 2018. In order to provide certainty to obligated parties, the Statement set out six key actions that the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment intends to implement to 2030 in the biofuels policy area.

DCEE held another consultation in 2019 seeking views relating to the future development of the Biofuels Obligation Scheme for the period 2021 to 2030. 42 submissions were received by the closing date of 15 November 2019 and they will inform the development of the Scheme. This is action 77a under the Climate Action Plan.

Zero Emission Vehicles Ireland (ZEVI) was established as a dedicated Office within the Department of Transport, charged with supporting consumers, the public sector and businesses to continue to make the switch to zero emission vehicles. The Office leads on the delivery of Ireland’s ambitious targets under the Climate Action Plan to have an expected 30% of our private car fleet switched to electric by 2030.

There is a suite of incentives in place from ZEVI, and where applicable with support from taxation incentives through the Department of Finance, to support the continued transition to EVs and for the rollout of EV charging infrastructure, including:

• A purchase grant for battery electric vehicles (BEVs);
• A Home Charger purchase grant scheme;
• An Apartment Charger grant;
• Benefit in kind relief for BEVs;
• VRT relief of up to €5,000 for the purchase of BEVs;
• The eSPSV grant scheme for taxi drivers to make the switch to an EV, including wheelchair accessible vehicles;
• A fleet assessment grant to help businesses explore the transition to EV's;
• ZEHDV grant scheme – a grant for HDVs to bridge the gap between a low emission vehicle and a fossil fuel vehicle; and in November 2024, the scheme was expanded to include purchase grants for recharging infrastructure.
• Low rate of annual motor tax.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) also hosts information about EVs, including details on models available in Ireland, business vehicles and available grants, which they administer on behalf of ZEVI.

The number of electric vehicles in Ireland has grown significantly in recent years. It is expected that the current trend will continue with the market development of a greater range of EV models at increasingly affordable prices, including the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). This growth will continue to be supported by ZEVI so that Ireland can meet its targets and transition away from fossil fuel vehicles.

The Government understands that having an effective and reliable charging network is an essential part of enabling drivers to make the switch to electric vehicles. In that context, ZEVI is fully committed to supporting a significant expansion and modernisation of the EV charging network over the coming years.

While over 80% of charging is expected to happen at home, there is a vital need for a seamless public charging network that will provide for situations or instances where home charging is not possible. The National EV Charging Network Plan outlines the requirements for publicly accessible charging, the objective of which is to be ahead of demand and deliver on the EU’s Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation requirements and install EV Infrastructure that is capable of meeting user needs. We are already seeing significant increased capacity of EV charging on our national roads, and this plan provides additional reassurance and certainty for EV drivers and those thinking of making the switch to EVs that they will be able to find high powered, fast and convenient EV charge-points where and when they need them.

A range of policies have been published, including the National En-Route EV Charging Plan and the Regional and Local EV Charging Network Plan (launched 29 April 2025). The vision set out in these documents, and in the overarching National EV Charging Infrastructure Strategy, envisages a 300% increase in charging capacity by 2025.

In addition, the Regional and Local EV Charging Network Plan, which focuses on destination and neighbourhood charging, was published in April this year. The plan will be led by Local Authorities in partnership with both public and private sectors.

ESB eCars Project

ESB eCars was established in 2010 to roll out the public charging infrastructure for EVs across Ireland and to support the introduction and demand for EVs nationally. It operates and maintains a growing network of 1,600 public charge points across the island of Ireland in locations such as motorway services, on-street, shopping centres, carparks etc.

There are currently three types of chargers on the ESB public charging network:

1. AC (standard 22kW);
2. DC (Fast/Rapid 50kW - 100kW); and
3. High power (150kW+).

EV Charging Investment Programme – co funded by the Climate Action Fund (CAF)

The project was delivered with €10m support from the Climate Action Fund (CAF) with an additional €13m investment by ESB. It was the first CAF-funded projects to move to delivery in September 2019 and completed delivery in 2025. The milestone marks the culmination of the joint investment programme, formed in 2018 as part of Project Ireland 2040 under the NDP 2018-2027, with the goal of expanding and upgrading Ireland’s public EV charging network.

The programme significantly improved the speed and reliability of the ESB public EV charging network across the country with the delivery of:

• Over 55 charging hubs, of which 52 hubs offer high power charging, allowing between three to eight vehicles to charge simultaneously.
• 100 charge points / 50 chargers upgraded to higher speeds (AC charging to DC charging)
• Replacement of almost 500 existing charge points / 250 AC chargers

The project has successfully delivered a significant upgrade and expansion of Ireland's public EV charging network, meeting the core deliverables set out in 2019. To date the project has delivered a direct 379kT reduction in CO2, delivered 174,252 MWh of renewable energy into the transportation sector and reduced energy consumption by 370,568 MWh due to energy efficiency gains from EVs.

Based on the project's 2025 revised forecast it will contribute significantly to Ireland’s climate goals by 2032 achieving:

• 7,305k tonnes reduction in CO₂ emissions (direct and indirect)
• 3,632,554 MWh delivery of renewable energy into the transport sector (direct and indirect)
• 10,272,941 MWh reduction in energy consumption due to efficiency gains (direct and indirect)

The initiative has proven to be a highly effective catalyst for transport decarbonisation. The infrastructure established through this project provides a critical foundation for achieving the Ireland’s long-term climate action goals for transport. The ESB will continue to progress EV charging across Ireland.

Oil in Transport

Ireland still depends heavily on oil for transport. The majority of private cars are still fuelled by petroleum products, as are virtually all commercial vehicles. While petrol consumption fell in 2018, diesel consumption increased by 4.7% during 2018, to 3,095 kilotonnes of oil equivalent (ktoe). During the same period, the consumption of Jet kerosene, used in aviation, increased by 7.9%, to 1,102 ktoe. Oil also remains the dominant fuel in the residential sector, accounting for 38% of the residential energy consumed in Ireland during 2018.

The Irish Oil Market

Ireland has no domestic commercial oil production and is therefore 100% dependent on petroleum product and crude oil imports. The downstream oil market in Ireland is fully deregulated, with a number of oil companies importing petroleum products into the State. While the majority of oil imports into the State are in the form of refined product, significant volumes of crude oil are also imported. Crude oil is imported into Ireland by a single refinery, located at Whitegate, in Co Cork. This crude comes from various locations where light/sweet (low density/low sulphur) crude is found. The refinery supplies refined products (excluding jet kerosene) to the Irish retail market, particularly in the south and west of Ireland.

The Irish Petroleum Industry Association (IPIA) is the representative body of the oil companies in Ireland engaged in the importation, distribution and marketing of petroleum products. Its membership represents the majority of the oil industry in Ireland. DCEE and the National Oil Reserves Agency (NORA) work with IPIA in oil emergency contingency planning. In the event of a disruption in the supply of petroleum products to the market, DCEE will engage with IPIA as the representative body of the industry.

Petroleum Product Security of Supply

The availability of petroleum products is crucial to the functioning of our critical infrastructure and transport sector. For this reason, and arising from our membership of the European Union (EU) and the International Energy Agency (IEA), Ireland is obliged to maintain a strategic oil reserve equivalent to 90 days of oil usage. This obligation is met through stocks owned and held by NORA, either in Ireland or abroad.

Securing Ireland’s supply of petroleum products means the government must:

• Participate in the formulation of EU/IEA policy regarding oil stockholding and oil emergency issues
• Engage in oil emergency planning to ensure the operation of critical infrastructure and the essential services, in the event of the occurrence of a domestic petroleum product shortage
• Ensure the effective operation of the NORA Levy, to fund Ireland’s strategic oil reserve
• Maintain Oil Stockholding Agreements to facilitate the holding of NORA stocks abroad. Ireland currently has agreements with Denmark, France, the Netherlands, the UK, Spain, Sweden and Germany
• Provide corporate governance for NORA, who maintain Ireland’s strategic oil reserve

Ireland's Strategic Oil Stocks

Given the importance of oil for transport usage and in the maintenance of critical infrastructure, Ireland holds a strategic petroleum product reserve, equivalent to 90 days of average net imports during the previous calendar year. This stockholding is maintained by the National Oil Reserves Agency (NORA), who ensure it is available for use in the event of an international oil shortage or a domestic disruption to petroleum product availability. NORA may release these stocks to the commercial oil companies in the event of a shortage of petroleum products on the market, as directed by the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment.

NORA was established as a stand-alone agency under the NORA Act 2007. Its function is to the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment who determines the annual stockholding obligation required to be held by NORA, based on 90 days of average net imports during the previous calendar year. Stocks may be held within Ireland or in countries with which Ireland has concluded an Oil Stocks Agreement.