Gas Demand Up 6% in July – Gas Networks Ireland Gas Demand Report

Overall gas demand increased by almost 6 per cent month-on-month from June and by 3 per cent year-on-year from July 2023, Gas Networks Ireland’s July Gas Demand Report has found.

Gas was also the largest contributor to electricity generation, generating 45 per cent, which represents an increase month-on-month from 42 per cent in June, and a slight decrease year-on-year from 46 per cent relative to July of last year.

While wind energy generated 22% of Ireland’s electricity in July – a decrease of four percentage points on the previous month (26% June 2024) and a decrease of 11 percentage points on the same month last year (33% July 2023).

Commenting on the report, Gas Networks Ireland’s Director of Strategy and Regulation, Edwina Nyhan said:
“A cool and relatively dry month¹, July saw a notable increase in gas demand, as wind energy’s contribution to the grid tapered off heading into the height of Summer. At times during the month, gas powered up to 64 per cent of the country’s electricity, and never dropped below 16 per cent². 

Wind energy’s contribution, meanwhile, peaked at 72 per cent, but given the variable nature of weather dependent renewable energy sources, there were times in the month when supply dropped completely and contributed less than 1% of electricity generation². While gas supply will remain consistent as a backup, we anticipate that wind’s contributions to the grid will pick back up as we head into the autumn and winter months.”

Sectoral demand
In particular, July saw a notable increase in demand for gas in transport with demand for clean burning Bio-CNG, up 20 per cent month-on-month and 65 per cent year-on-year. Demand for gas was also driven by the manufacturing³ (+73 per cent month-on-month, +33 per cent year-on-year), education⁴ (+58 per cent year-on-year), office⁵ (+34 per cent year-on-year) and air travel⁶ (+25% year on year) sectors.

Ms. Nyhan said:
“We are particularly proud to see such significant progress made in the greater uptake of BioCNG, a clean fuel and diesel alternative for freight and commercial vehicles. These numbers are a testament to the central role gas will play in Ireland’s continued journey towards net zero.”

Prior Information Notice
In an effort to meet the growing demand for cleaner gas, Gas Networks Ireland has in the past month published a Prior Information Notice (PIN) on the e-tenders system, for the potential purchase of up to 250 gigawatts of biomethane.

The publication of the PIN will allow Gas Networks Ireland, to ascertain the scale of likely interest in supplying biomethane. Government strategy aims to replace 10 per cent of the natural gas that the Republic uses with biomethane, made by processing farming and food waste. After the initial market sounding exercise Gas Networks Ireland may move into a full procurement process to buy biomethane, and this substitution will therefore contribute to reducing Ireland’s overall energy emissions, in line with the Government's National Biomethane Strategy and Climate Action Plan targets.

Ms. Nyhan said:
“Gas Networks Ireland is currently working with stakeholders to significantly grow the biomethane sector in Ireland. We recently signed a contract that will see biomethane from Bia Energy’s new €60 million anaerobic digestion (AD) plant in Huntstown injected directly into the gas network, and it is also contracting with other biomethane producers. The recent publication of our PIN notice, is also an important step in this overall process, and we would encourage relevant stakeholders to respond to it as appropriate.”

¹ Cool and relatively dry month as per Met Eireann climate statement: Climate Statement for July 2024 - Met Éireann - The Irish Meteorological Service
² All peak and low measurements recorded over a 15-minute resolution.
³ 'Manufacturing' includes oil refining and data centres. Given the small number of customers in these categories, data is aggregated to comply with our confidentiality obligations
⁴ 'Education' refers to large educational campuses
⁵ 'Office' refers to large office campuses
⁶ 'Air travel' refers to airports.