Almost 54,000 homes benefitted from energy upgrades last year thanks to government support, according to figures from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI).

The SEAI 2024 Full Year Retrofit Report showcased the momentum in home energy upgrades by detailing the number completed (53,984) surpassed 2024's target of 52,200, representing an increase of 13% on the number of upgrades for the same period for the previous year.

As of the end of 2024, the government had invested €1.2 billion in energy upgrades across 186,000 homes and 156 community energy projects, with one third of the expenditure in 2024. Half of all this expenditure (€600 million) was on upgrades to homes in energy poverty. These upgrade works leveraged a further €1.1 billion in private investment and have led to new annual carbon dioxide abatement of more than 310kT CO2 per annum.

Government expenditure across all schemes reached €416.7 million in 2024, up 30% year on year. Of the homes upgraded, 7,700 were in energy poor households which received totally free energy upgrades.

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Discussing the figures, Mr William Walsh, CEO of SEAI said: "We are pleased that 2024 saw a strong increase in home energy upgrade completions. Retrofitting homes plays a key role in helping us to achieve our climate action targets, and it's positive to see that momentum and demand from homeowners continues to build year on year.

"If we are to meet Ireland's Climate Action Plan target of 500,0000 B2 home energy upgrades, together we need to deliver on average 75,000 B2-equivalent home upgrades each year from 2026 to 2030 across the system. It's vitally important that pace and engagement continue to support the realisation of Ireland's energy transition.

"In 2025 we will continue to focus on educating and motivating homeowners on the benefits of home energy upgrades, such as lower energy bills, better BERs, as well as the wide range of grants and supports available for homeowners to make the switch to heat pumps. These include the low interest loans now available through numerous financial institutions."

The headline deliverables in 2024, across all home energy upgrade schemes administered by SEAI were:

• Upgraded almost 54,000 properties (up 13% year on year);

• Completed 21,800 BER B2 upgrades (up 24% year on year);

• Delivered 7,700 upgrades for energy poverty qualifying households (up 31% year on year);

• Installed 3,600 heat pumps, bringing the total for 2019-2024 to 14,194;

• Secured 545 Approved Housing Body upgrades supported under the National Home Energy Upgrade Scheme (one stop shop service), and 224 under the Community Energy Grants scheme.

The residential upgrades in 2024 have led to 146 GWh in energy savings and total of 68kt in CO2 savings. Last year was also another strong year for the Solar PV Scheme, with 28% growth in installed solar PV systems (160 MW installed Solar PV capacity).

The SEAI Retrofit Full Year Report for 2024 can be downloaded from the SEAI website.