Grants for home energy retrofits amounted to €73 million in the first three months of the year, an increase of 29 per cent on the similar period last year.
According to the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) the number of homes retrofitted in the first quarter represents an increase of 18 per cent on the first three months of last year, and shows the ongoing surge in home retrofitting.
The authority said it hoped to spend €437 million in grants for the retrofit scheme this year. The target is to fund energy-reducing measures for 52,200 properties, some 20,800 of which are to be raised to a B2 energy level.
According to the authority’s quarterly report published on Tuesday:
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- More than 11,700 property upgrades were completed, up 18 per cent year- on-year;
- More than 5,050 homes were upgraded to a Ber B2 or higher, up 53 per cent year-on-year;
- More than 15,450 applications processed across all schemes, down 1 per cent year-on-year;
- Almost 1,200 upgrades were approved for low-income households, up 25 per cent year-on-year;
- Expenditure at €73 million was up 29 per cent on the similar period last year;
- 79 approved housing body upgrades were supported under the One-Stop-Shop Scheme;
- 51 upgrades were approved for community buildings.
By far the most popular grants during the first quarter were for solar panels. Some 6,005 grants were approved for solar panels in the first quarter, compared to 3,985 in the first quarter of 2023.
The highest number of solar grants were paid out in Dublin where the numbers grew to 1,347 in the first quarter of this year, up from 884 in the first three months of 2023. The lowest number of grants were paid out in Co Longford where the numbers grew to 31 in the first quarter, and increase of 15 over the similar period in 2023.
In contrast, the number of community buildings retrofitted under the Community Energy Grants, was just 130 – although this was up from just 30 in the first three months of 2023.
Of the homes upgraded almost 1,200 were energy-poor homes which benefited from totally free energy upgrades and 5,050 achieved a B2 rating or better.
Dr Ciaran Byrne, of the SEAI, said 2024 started off well, but he noted the cumulative number of applications processed across all schemes was down 1 per cent on the first three months of 2023. “This points to the need to continue the implementation of the national retrofit plan to overcome barriers to retrofit and further drive demand and delivery.”
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