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ARTICLE · 13 MAY 2026

Ireland’s Renewable Heat Obligation

William Fry LLP
William Fry LLP
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Ireland's Draft Renewable Heat Obligation Bill 2025 introduces a new framework requiring fossil fuel suppliers to ensure a prescribed percentage of heating energy comes from renewable sources, mirroring...

IrelandEnergy and Natural Resources
Jason Milne
Jason Milne
Eva Barrett
Eva Barrett
Michelle Martin
Michelle Martin
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The Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment published the Draft Heads of the Renewable Heat Obligation Bill 2025 in July 2025, setting out the framework for a new obligation on fossil fuel suppliers to ensure that a prescribed percentage of the energy they supply for heating comes from renewable sources.

The Renewable Heat Obligation (RHO) mirrors the existing Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) operated by NORA, but applies it to the heating sector, a part of Ireland’s energy system where decarbonisation has lagged well behind electricity and transport.

The Bill is currently in priority drafting, having been notified to the European Commission under Directive (EU) 2015/1535 on 23 December 2025. On 29 March 2026, the Commission issued a formal Detailed Opinion finding that one of the Bill’s central design features, a multiplier favouring indigenously produced biomethane, is incompatible with EU internal market rules. The standstill period has been extended to 29

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