The source report concerns an energy milestone reached on 20 June 2025, when Ireland ended coal-fired electricity generation at Moneypoint in County Clare. The shutdown of coal operations at the 915MW station made Ireland the 15th coal-free country in Europe, according to the report.
Moneypoint was commissioned by state-owned utility ESB in the mid-1980s. Its original role was to diversify Ireland’s energy supply after the oil crises of the 1970s by providing a dependable source of power. Four decades later, growing renewable generation—especially wind—had reduced the need to burn coal.
Data attributed to energy think tank Ember showed that wind supplied 37% of Ireland’s electricity in 2024, equivalent to 11.4TWh. Solar remained much smaller at 0.97TWh for the year, although the report said it had been setting new generation records in subsequent months. The figures illustrate why the coal exit was possible, but they also show that the power system’s transition was being led chiefly by wind rather than solar.
The change did not mean the physical plant immediately ceased every fossil-fuel function. Moneypoint was retained as a backup capable of burning heavy fuel oil when instructed by transmission-system operator EirGrid. That limited emergency role was scheduled to remain available until 2029, while the station no longer participated in the wholesale electricity market as a coal generator. The arrangement followed earlier plans by EirGrid and ESB to leave coal-fired generation by the end of 2025.
Climate campaigners welcomed the milestone while arguing that it did not complete Ireland’s energy transition. Alexandru Mustață of Beyond Fossil Fuels said the priority should shift to storage, grid infrastructure and flexibility needed for a system based on domestic renewable electricity. Jerry Mac Evilly of Friends of the Earth Ireland called for Moneypoint’s oil use to be kept to an absolute minimum and eventually decommissioned.
Mac Evilly also linked future demand and generation choices to the wider fossil-fuel debate. He criticized additional data-centre development and pointed to government plans for at least 2GW of gas-fired capacity, arguing that Ireland still lacked a strategy to reduce gas dependence. Those comments reflect the campaign group’s position rather than a finding by the system operator.
Beyond Fossil Fuels tracked 23 European countries with coal phase-out commitments at the time. The group expected further exits, including moves in mainland Italy and mainland Spain. Ireland’s experience therefore marked both a national shift and one step in a broader European retreat from coal, with grid reliability and remaining oil and gas use becoming the next points of scrutiny.
