From Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications
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The Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Eamon Ryan, has today launched the District Heating Steering Group Report at the Dublin Waste to Energy facility in Ringsend, Dublin.
District heating can play a key role in improving energy efficiency and reducing emissions in Ireland. These networks can use renewable technologies to decarbonise the heat sector, can offer flexibility in heat sources and can provide the ability to adapt to changes in the economic and policy landscape. District heating currently accounts for a very small share of the Irish heating sector; estimated to be significantly less than 1%, representing one of the lowest shares of district heating in Europe.
The contribution that district heating can make to Ireland’s energy and climate goals has long been recognised, and has been underpinned by the findings of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland’s National Heat Study 2022, which found that up to 54% of heat demand in Ireland could be provided by district heating from renewable heat.
To deliver on that potential, a District Heating Steering Group was established to coordinate the development of district heating policy. The Climate Action Plan 2023 commits to implementing the recommendations of the District Heating Steering Group report and to delivering up to 2.7TWhr of district heating by 2030. The Minister opened Ireland’s first district heating network in Tallaght in April this year. Using waste heat from Amazon Data Centre, that project is now providing low-carbon heat to Dublin South County Council public buildings and Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin), with further plans to provide heat to 133 affordable apartments by 2025.
Speaking at the Dublin Waste to Energy facility, Minister Ryan said:
"We must radically reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and transition to more sustainable, low-carbon alternatives — particularly to heat our buildings. District heating has a key role to play in that and I am delighted to be able to launch our District Heating Steering Group report here in Poolbeg.
"The Dublin District Heating Project, which will be led by Dublin City Council is a really exciting project which also has the potential to help us largely meet our district heat ambitions. It will capture waste heat generated at the Dublin Waste to Energy facility, which is currently flowing into Dublin Bay, and instead turn that flow of energy towards the city to pipe hot water into homes and businesses in the Poolbeg, Ringsend and Docklands areas and up into historic Georgian Dublin.
"We’re already seeing the positive impact of waste energy for heat from the data centre in Tallaght, and now with this report we can plan to replicate this throughout the country, heating our homes and buildings in a more sustainable way, making them warmer, healthier and more cost efficient."
The District Heating Steering Group Report 2023 is the culmination of the Steering Group’s work over the past 18 months. The Steering Group recommendations set the foundation for the development of district heating in Ireland.
As defined by the recast Renewable Energy Directive 2018, "'district heating' or 'district cooling' means the distribution of thermal energy in the form of steam, hot water or chilled liquids, from central or decentralised sources of production through a network to multiple buildings or sites, for the use of space or process heating or cooling".
District heating can deliver the decarbonised heat necessary to meet a significant portion of Ireland’s renewable heat targets. National policy in Ireland has recognised the contribution that district heating can make to Ireland’s energy and climate goals and is underpinned by the findings of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland’s National Heat Study 2022, which found that up to 54% of heat demand in Ireland could be provided by district heating from renewable heat.
Climate Action Plan 2021 affirmed the significant contribution district heating can make to increasing the level of renewable energy in the heat sector and reducing emissions. Climate Action Plan 2023 builds further on this commitment, including delivery of up to 2.7TWh of district heating by 2030.
The formation of a multi-disciplinary District Heating Steering Group was seen as critical to ensuring that the potential district heating offers for Ireland’s decarbonisation goals is realised.
The District Heating Steering Group was established in 2022 to consider the development of district heating in Ireland and the regulatory framework required to protect consumers. The Steering Group examined issues around the structures necessary to develop the District Heating sector in Ireland. The Steering Group focussed on the key areas required for the development of district heating; regulation, planning, funding, and research. The Steering Group report contains eleven overarching recommendations including the need to:
The Steering Group is chaired by an Assistant Secretary from the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, and includes expertise from the following organisations: The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage; the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI); the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU); City of Dublin Energy Management Agency (CoDEMA); Dublin City Council; South Dublin County Council; Limerick City and County Council; and the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA).