The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) published a report giving details of the nearly 10,000 home energy upgrades supported through Government funded SEAI grant schemes in the first quarter of 2023.
The retrofitting target overall for 2023 is to support over 37,000 home energy upgrades. On first quarter performance, and based on the robust pipeline of work in the system, it could be expected that this target could be reached, or surpassed.
Among the key insights in the report are:
- 9,946 property upgrades were completed in Q1, up 172% on the same period in 2022.
- 946 property upgrades were completed through programmes that focused on energy-poor homes, up 27% on the same period in 2022.
- SEAI processed more than 15,600 grant applications across all schemes in Q1, up 76% on the same period in 2022.
- 3,304 homes were upgraded to a BER B2 or higher, up 232% on the same period in 2022.
Dr Ciaran Byrne, Director of National Retrofit at SEAI said, “it is encouraging to note that project completions are up considerably this quarter, particularly in the individual energy upgrade grants. Since the launch of the One Stop Shop scheme last year, there have been over 2,200 Home Energy Assessment (HEA) applications which suggests that a healthy pipeline of homeowners are completing the initial energy survey to determine what energy upgrade works they wish to complete.”
“SEAI recently published the interim energy balance for 2022 which noted a reduction in heat demand in our homes and businesses that was greater than what can be accounted for by temperature effects, efficiency improvements, or fuel-switching. SEAI believes it’s likely that the primary driver of the reduced demand was the increased price of heating fuels. We also believe that the increased interest in home energy upgrades is driven, in part at least, by homeowners responding to increased energy bills. We encourage all homeowners to do likewise as there are now grant options to suit all budgets and requirements.”
Source: SEAI