The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) published a report today (June 4) giving details on the nearly 12,000 home energy upgrades supported through Government funded SEAI grant schemes in the first quarter of this year. This represents an increase of 18% on the number of upgrades for the same period last year, and shows the ongoing surge in home retrofitting.
Government expenditure across all schemes reached 73 million, up 29% year on year. Of the homes upgraded, almost 1,200 were energy-poor homes which benefitted from totally free energy upgrades and 5,050 achieved a BER B2 rating or better.
Quarter one figures do not take into account the new first low-cost loan which is expected to help expand the retrofitting programme even further over the coming year.
The headline outcomes during Q1 2024, across all schemes administered by SEAI, were:
- Over 11,700 property upgrades were completed, up 18% year on year.
- Over 5,050 homes were upgraded to a BER B2 or higher, up 53% year on year.
- Over 15,450 applications processed across all schemes, down 1% year on year.
- Almost 1,200 upgrades for low-income households, up 25% year on year.
- Expenditure across all schemes was 73 million, up 29% year on year.
- 79 Approved Housing Body upgrades supported under the One-Stop-Shop Scheme, and 51 under the Community Energy Grants scheme to end Q1.
Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan TD said:
"These figures are ongoing proof that climate actions work. We are now getting to the point where nearly 1,000 homes right across the country are being made warmer and more efficient every week. And I expect that we will go even further as the year progresses. These quarter one numbers are reflective of what happened even before we hit go on the new low-cost retrofitting loan scheme - a first for both Ireland and the European Investment Bank. This is going to shift our retrofitting plan into a whole new gear because it means that home-owners who may not have the immediate reserves can now get the low-cost financing they need to retrofit their homes. Low income homes and energy poor homes will continue to get free upgrades. I can only see this scheme going from strength to strength."
Dr Ciaran Byrne, Director of National Retrofit at SEAI said:
"From a results perspective 2024 has started off well, with almost all key metrics recording increases on the corresponding period in 2023. Retrofitting activity in the quarter is primarily driven from applications received in Q3 and Q4 of the previous year and these were relatively strong. The overall number of property upgrades completed and B2 upgrades completed increased considerably, with a sizeable portion related to continued high demand for the Solar PV scheme. The Warmer Homes Scheme continued the robust performance from last year with a 25% year on year increase in the number of fully funded upgrades delivered for households at risk of energy poverty.
It is also positive to see that heat pump numbers increased by 3% on the output reported this time last year. While this continued the upward trend, further work is required to drive heat pump uptake in the months and years to come. During Q1, we discontinued the requirement for a heat pump technical assessment to a heat pump grant for homes built after 2007. This will improve the customer journey for homeowners and is expected to increase demand for heat pumps. SEAI will introduce further measures to drive demand and delivery including a fresh marketing and communications campaign to launch shortly
Dr Byrne continued:
Overall, we can see that the cumulative number of applications across all schemes was essentially flat compared to the same time last year. 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. Wider potential impacts on the sector also need to be acknowledged such as the challenge of scaling the sector in the face of a labour market approaching capacity. Conversely, the availability of a significant low-cost loan offer will increase the propensity of people to engage in domestic retrofits."
