Ireland is now using five times more renewables than in 1990, helping avoid three million tonnes of harmful CO2 emissions and displaced €300 million of fossil fuel imports annually.

Dr Brian Motherway, CEO of SEAI said: “Renewable energy is becoming increasingly valuable to Ireland. It is worth noting that the vast majority of renewable energy comes from a combination of wind and bioenergy. Policy is directed towards making best use of our most available and cheapest resources, with no silver bullet. We need to make the right choices for Ireland by developing our energy system in the most cost effective manner to the benefit of our economy and society. The targets are demanding but achievable; to get there we will need focus, effort and investment.”

The report indicates that the share of electricity generated from renewable energy sources increased fourfold since 1990 with renewables now contributing one fifth of electricity generated, the second largest share behind gas.