Irish CO2 emissions plunge after coal-fired power plant shutdown

• 5 years ago (2019-05-09)
• David Flin

Coal 282 Europe 1068

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Emissions of CO2 in Ireland fell sharply last year, the decline outpacing that of the wider EU, in a period that included the closure of ESB’s coal-fired Moneypoint Power Plant. Data from the European Statistics Agency, Eurostat, showed that CO2 emissions in Ireland fell by 6.8 per cent in 2018 versus 2017. This compares to the 2.5 per cent drop for the same period across the EU as a whole.

Moneypoint consists of three 305 MW turbines. The turbines were closed for around three months last year. Coal-fired generation accounted for 40 per cent of emissions from the electricity sector in Ireland in 2015.

According to figures released by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in April that cover the subsets of industry, emissions from Irish power generation and industrial companies in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme fell by 8.2 per cent in 2018, compared to a decrease of approximately 4 per cent across the EU. The EPA said that the decrease in emissions was largely due to the Moneypoint plant being offline for the last three months of the year, which caused a drop of 13.9 per cent in emissions from power generation.

Ireland is lagging in its agreed greenhouse gas emissions cuts, and will face fines of up to €600 million a year until it achieves them.