Ireland is the fifth most attractive country to invest in renewable energy projects on a GDP-normalised basis according to the latest EY Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index.
This is due to the country’s as ambitious energy transition plans, proactive policy settings and significant opportunities continue to attract investment in the rapidly expanding renewable sector.
During 2023, an additional 0.6GW of new grid-scale renewable energy was installed across Ireland, including 0.2GW of wind and 0.4GW of solar, represents a tripling of the 0.2GW that was connected in 2022.
Ireland follows behind Denmark, Greece, Chile, and Australia in the normalised ranking of economies, according to the index.
The country has also continued to expand its CPPA market, climbing one place to rank 16th in the CPPA Index, reflecting a growing use of these agreements in Ireland as organisations continue to invest in renewable energy to meet both their energy needs and ambitious individual climate commitments.
In the overall index, the top spots are retained by the world’s largest economies, the United States, China and Germany, with the scale of the economies, the energy demands and the projects themselves attracting record investment.
Globally, there has been a record level of investment, with a surge of US$1.8trillion in clean energy investment in 2023, including US$660bn earmarked for renewables, the index found.
In spite of this unprecedented investment, however, it is still significantly below what is needed to meet the COP28 target of tripling renewable capacity by 2030, the report stated.
Network gridlock and high capital costs are cited as consistent challenges globally at a time when rapid acceleration of investment and capacity is needed.
Sean Casey, EY UK&I energy & infrastructure consulting leader, said: “It’s really positive that Ireland has placed so highly when it comes to our attractiveness in terms of seeking and securing renewable energy investment, but there is still much to do to ensure we are on track to meet 2030 goals.
“Over recent years there has been a clear step change in the policy settings that enable investment in clean energy at scale.
“We are now increasingly seeing the return on this, with a year-on-year tripling of renewable energy added to the grid in 2023.
“Just recently the Environmental Protection Agency reported that power generation emissions were down 21% – while some of this can be attributed to imported energy via interconnectors, it’s clear that the energising of new renewable energy projects on an almost monthly basis is playing a crucial role.
“It’s also been really positive to see an increase in Corporate Power Purchase Agreements – where businesses commit to purchase electricity directly from renewable source.
“This is a market that is rapidly growing as organisations seek to secure renewable energy sources to meet their own climate commitments.
“These positive results for Ireland are set against a backdrop where on the surface, the global renewables sector is on a high.
“But despite last year’s surge in clean energy investment globally, investment remains below what is needed to meet the COP28 target of tripling renewable capacity by 2030.
“Years of underinvestment globally in infrastructure means network gridlock and high capital costs could also delay progress just when acceleration is needed.
“As an example, a 2023 International Energy Agency report found that approximately 1,500GW of renewables capacity was languishing in ever-growing queues to connect to the grid.
“Whether it’s here in Ireland or anywhere else globally, we need to redouble our focus on finding solutions that will accelerate delivery and connectivity of renewable energy at scale.”