EEOS for Obligated Parties
Under the Efficiency Obligation Scheme (EEOS), large suppliers and distributors of energy must achieve annual energy efficiency targets. These companies are called Obligated Parties.
Who are Obligated Parties?
Energy suppliers and distributors that sell more than 400GWh of energy per year are Obligated Parties under the Energy Efficiency Obligation Scheme. All Obligated Parties are set annual targets based on their sales volumes.
Each Obligated Parties' target is divided into three sectors:
- 85% for cross-sector
- 10% for residential
- 5% for energy poverty
For 2023, there are 17 Obligated Parties operating across the main energy markets in Ireland - liquid fuel, natural gas, electricity, and solid fuel markets.
Achieving annual targets
Obligated Parties have specific annual targets allocated to them based on their market share in the energy industry. For every unit of energy saved, Obligated Parties earn energy credits that contribute to their overall targets.
What are energy credits?
Energy savings submitted by an Obligated Party become energy credits when they are validated by SEAI and counted towards an Obligated Parties' target.
The value of the energy credits from a project is based on the actual final energy savings achieved, where 1 kWh equals 1 energy credit.
Claiming energy credits
Energy credits can only be claimed by Obligated Parties. They cannot be claimed by individuals or other suppliers. Obligated Parties need to provide signed statements from the beneficiaries of the projects they support. These statements must confirm that the OP has supported the project and can count the energy savings achieved towards their targets.
Where Obligated Parties provide financial support to a project, the value of the support per kWh (or per energy credit) is driven by supply and demand and is not set by SEAI.
Guidance on authenticating and claiming energy credits
This guidance document provides guidance on SEAI requirements for authenticating and claiming energy savings credits associated with energy efficiency projects under the Energy Efficiency Obligation Scheme (EEOS).
Guidance for Obligated Parties
As EEOS scheme administrator, SEAI has developed this guidance document as a form of operating manual for the programme. It is intended to give clarity to Obligated Parties on how SEAI will administer the programme in accordance with the requirements of the 2022 Regulations. It also is intended to make the scheme processes, procedures and requirements as transparent as possible for Obligated Parties and all other stakeholders.
The impact of EEOS
The Energy Efficiency Obligation Scheme has been designed to achieve 60% of Ireland’s energy efficiency target for 2030 under Article 8 of the Energy Efficiency Directive. This equates to a delivery of 36,424 GWh in cumulative final energy savings between 1st January 2021 and 31st December 2030.
Learn more about EEOS