SEAI publishes data on energy use during first month of lock down

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) has today published an overview of energy demand trends (including electricity, gas and oil) in Ireland since 01 January 2020. The data includes insights into energy use during April 2020, the first full month of travel and business restrictions arising from the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Some of the key highlights include:

— The public health measures affected transport energy the most.

–Deliveries of kerosene for air travel were down 84% in April compared with April 2019.

–Deliveries of petrol and diesel were down 55% and 52% respectively.

–Electricity demand was down by one fifth (21%) compared with pre-emergency levels.

–Deliveries of kerosene for heating (homes and business) were up in March and April by 86% and 68% respectively compared with the same periods in 2019. This was likely due to a combination of stocking up due to delivery anxieties at the start of the lockdown and low retail oil prices due to international price movements.

SEAI will continue to monitor these trends, with the next tranche of data available around the end of June which will include the impact of the emergency during April/May.

The full report is available here.