Networked Gas Daily Supply and Demand December 2024

Statistician's Comment

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (09 April 2025) published Networked Gas Daily Supply and Demand December 2024.

Commenting on the release, Deirdre Moran, Statistician in the Climate and Energy Division, said: “In 2024, total gas demand was 2.5% higher compared with 2023, and 5% lower compared with 2022 (See Table 1A).

Comparing the year 2024 with 2023, networked gas demand was higher for each of the four customer types: Power Plants were 2% higher, Non-Daily Metered customers saw a 5% rise, Large Daily Metered customers increased by 0.5%, and Daily Metered customers were up 5% (See Tables A and 2B to 2E).

In 2024, Imports represented 79% of total gas supply. Annual figures for Indigenous Gas Production have been declining over the last number of years (See Figure 1 and Tables 1A to 1C). 

December 2024 Trends

Total gas demand in December 2024 was 4,985 gigawatt hours (GWh), which was 16% higher than the December 2023 figure of 4,309 GWh (See Table 2A).

In December 2024, gas demand by Power Plants was 28% higher compared with December 2023 and 9% lower when compared with December 2022 (See Table 2B).

In December 2024, Power Plants accounted for 59% of total gas demand, while Non-Daily Metered customers, who are largely domestic users and small businesses, represented 28% of total gas demand (See Figure 2 and Tables 2A to 2C).

Imports were 25% higher in December 2024 compared with December 2023, while Indigenous Gas Production was 15% lower (See Figure 1 and Tables 1B and 1C).

Imports represented 82% of total gas supply in December 2024 with Indigenous Gas Production from the Corrib gas field and biomethane plants accounting for the remaining 18% (See Figure 1 and Tables 1A to 1C).

Weather-Related Data

In December 2024, the 10 days with the highest daily gas demand by Non-Daily Metered customers coincided with eight of the lowest maximum daily air temperatures recorded at Dublin Airport in the same month (See Tables 4C and 5).

In December 2024, there were 20 days with a lower daily mean wind speed recorded at Dublin Airport than in December 2023. This was likely a contributing factor to gas demand by Power Plants being 28% higher in December 2024 compared with December 2023 (See Figure 3, Tables 4B, and 6).”

Editor's Note

This release includes information on the maximum daily air temperatures at Dublin Airport (See Table 5) and daily mean wind speed at Dublin Airport (See Table 6). Low maximum daily air temperatures in winter usually increases the demand for household heating. The amount of wind can influence the balance between electricity generated from natural gas and wind turbines. Gas customer types are categorised based on their annual consumption. Note that in Ireland, the Gas Day begins at 5 am. See the Background Notes for the full definition of gas customer types.