Amount of renewable energy declared by providers substantially higher than official figures

The 15 per cent gap between EirGrid’s figures and the amount declared by electricity suppliers, is due to the European Guarantees of Origin scheme

The issue has also received negative attention in the UK, where the British equivalent of the CRU said there is minimal evidence guarantees of origin encourage development of renewable energy. Picture: Getty Images

Electricity providers said they delivered more renewable energy last year on the island of Ireland than what official figures said was actually supplied.

There is a substantial gap between the power that providers said came from renewable sources and the official amount of green electricity generated.

The island’s electricity was generated 50.7 per cent from gas and 42.5 per cent from renewable sources in 2020, according to EirGrid, the all-island grid operator. The remainder of ...