Government supported almost 27,200 home energy upgrades through SEAI in 2022

In the first of planned quarterly updates on the government funded SEAI grant schemes, Environment minister Eamonn Ryan and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) have announced that almost 27,200 energy upgrades were completed in 2022, up 80 per cent on 2021, while applications are up 140 per cent.

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Expenditure was €188m, an increase of 90 per cent on the previous year.

Of these upgrades, 4,438 were fully funded retrofits for low-income households, up 85 per cent year on year. 8,481 homes were upgraded to a targeted B2, with 12 One Stop Shop service providers commencing operations.

Minister Ryan said “the message from the most recent IPCC report on climate is clear. We need to go further and faster in tackling climate change… We have everything to gain by ramping up year on year – better homes, cheaper bills and less use of polluting and climate damaging fossil fuels.”

Dr Ciaran Byrne, Director of National Retrofit at SEAI said “for much of the year, there was an unmet demand for home energy upgrades. The One Stop Shop and contractor base is continuing to scale up to meet this burgeoning demand. Construction sector inflation and material supply chain constraints are likely to remain significant risks in the medium term.”

The Climate Action Plan target is to upgrade 500,000 homes to BER B2 or better by 2030.