OFTEC NEWS
Eurofuel members in Dublin.
GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO BE BOLDER AND EMBRACE REALISTIC GOALS THAT WORK FOR THE SECTOR, HOMEOWNER AND DECARBONISATION TARGETS, SAYS OFTEC IRELAND MANAGER DAVID BLEVINGS…
Ireland’s Renewable Heating Obligation
David Blevings, OFTEC Ireland Manager. Much engagement back and forth with the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications has not yielded any enthusiasm for a higher blend rate, or a more robust and clearer pathway to 2030 that would give confidence to the sector as we move towards a blended future. heating’ by the wider public, the starting obligation rates of 1.5% and 3% for years one and two are hardly exciting. As previously discussed in this column, the Irish Government is pushing ahead with a Renewable Heating Obligation. This will apply to all heating fuels and could be in law by the beginning of 2027. While laudable, and necessary given the poor take up of ‘electrification of
Let’s face it, we all know a blended future for heating fuels is needed. As it stands, the State is failing miserably at its own targets for heat pump installs and retrofits. To repeat, the Climate Action plan targets 500,000 residential retrofits and the deployment of 400,000 heat pumps, plus the delivery of up to 2.7 terawatt hours of district heating capacity by 2030. According to the Economic and Social Research Institute, Ireland is ‘materially off-track’ on all three targets. By the end of 2024, the report noted that deep retrofits reached 57,932 (11.5% of the target) while heat pump installations were estimated at 14,194 (3.5% of the target). So, why are we not aiming higher
with blend rates of 10% or 20%? Government says it is concerned over the cost to consumers that is dictating the lower blend rates, but we suspect that the real reason is a shortage of locally-produced biomethane. The EU turned down the original RHO proposal favouring indigenous biomethane (a 1.5 multiplier). This was never going to go down well with other EU states – biomethane imported from other EU countries and used locally would just as easily contribute to reducing carbon emissions. We have continually argued that the low blend obligation at the start (1.5%) will not drive meaningful additional blending to the liquid fuel market and, as it is written, the Government is set
34 | PLUMBING & HEATING MAGAZINE
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