Public invited to take part in the consultation for the design of the next Energy Efficiency Obligation Scheme

• Increased ambition in the new Scheme will save energy and support the achievement of Ireland’s climate goals

The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications has launched a consultation with stakeholders on the design of the new Energy Efficiency Obligation Scheme (EEOS), which will operate from the start of 2022.

The new scheme will build on the obligation scheme that has been in place since 2014 and will contribute significantly to the delivery of Ireland’s energy saving target under the revised EU Energy Efficiency Directive. The newly-designed scheme will also support the delivery of Ireland’s broader national climate ambition.

Energy efficiency represents an important pillar of Ireland’s plan to tackle climate change. It is anticipated that the redesigned EEOS, while helping Ireland meet a significant and binding target under the Energy Efficiency Directive, will also support the achievement of Ireland’s overall climate ambitions as detailed in the Programme for Government.

The previous scheme ran from 2014 to 2020 and over that time supported energy efficiency actions in more than 290,000 dwellings and over 3,000 businesses. The success of that scheme has contributed to the decision to use an obligation scheme once again to help Ireland achieve our 2030 energy saving target.

Views on the design of the new Scheme are now being sought. The consultation document is available on gov.ie. Anyone wishing to make a submission should complete the online survey. If you cannot access the survey for any reason please contact the team by email at energy.efficiency@decc.gov.ie. The closing date for submissions is 5pm, 19 April 2021.

• An obligation scheme, such as the EEOS, is a legal requirement on energy suppliers and distributors (‘obligated parties’) to help energy users save energy. This can be achieved by supporting the energy user (financially or otherwise) to implement energy saving practices or to carry out energy upgrades in their property.
• Obligated parties work with energy users in the residential, commercial and public sector and can deliver the required energy savings through their own programmes, counterparties or other partners or can work with the energy efficiency support schemes offered by the Government through the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI).
• The redesigned EEOS will commence in January 2022. While the new scheme is being developed, the current scheme will continue to operate.
• The new scheme will better reflect Ireland’s increased climate ambition as set out in the National Energy and Climate Plan, the Long Term Renovation Strategy and the Climate Action Plan (CAP).
• The European Commission’s Clean Energy Package, launched in November 2016, sets out the Commission’s vision for energy efficiency, stating that energy efficiency should be the “first principle” of any future energy policies. This is an opportunity to further drive efficiencies across all sectors. One of the core components of the Clean Energy Package is a revised Energy Efficiency Directive (EED), which was published in 2018.
• The EED places a requirement on each Member State to specify their contribution to this reduction, and the measures to be taken to achieve that contribution, in a National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP).
• Under Article 7 of the EED, Ireland is required to make a defined amount of energy savings that meet specific criteria, by 2030.
• While the headline EU energy efficiency target is not legally binding for Member States, the target for Article 7 of the revised EED is, and thus it importantly guarantees a minimum level of energy savings towards the headline EED target, likely more than half of the overall savings required.
• For the 2014-20 obligation period, Ireland chose to meet our Article 7 energy savings target through a combination of an obligation scheme and a series of alternative policy measures. Following a public consultation in late 2019, it was decided that for 2021-30, Ireland would once again place an obligation on energy suppliers and/or distributors, to achieve a portion of the energy savings required under Article 7.