At ESB, we have a long track record of sharing progress on our sustainability journey. We first began reporting on ‘Social Responsiveness’ as far back as the 1970s, and we published our first standalone Sustainability Report in 2004.
Now, our Sustainability Report for 2025 marks a new milestone, as it is aligned for the first time with the Corporate Social Responsibility Directive (CSRD). This is a voluntary step we are taking that brings a new level of transparency to how our operations interact with the planet, the places we operate and the people we work with and for.
The report shares data and stories from across our business in 2025, focusing on topic areas across three pillars: Environment, Social and Governance. The full report and an executive summary are now available to download – here is an overview of some key takeaways:
1. Curbing carbon emissions: The carbon intensity of the electricity we produce has fallen to 314g CO2/kWh, a 53% reduction over the 2005 baseline. A major milestone in 2025 was the ending of coal generation at our Moneypoint power station.
2. Delivering record investment: In 2025 we invested over €2.7 billion in critical energy infrastructure, including €1.7 billion on electricity network infrastructure in Ireland and Northern Ireland.
3. Connecting clean energy: ESB Networks connected over 570MW of renewables to the grid in 2025, with renewable energy enabled by the Irish electricity network now totalling around 8GW for the first time. It also processed more than 47,000 microgeneration installations, adding a further 230MW of solar capacity last year alone.
4. Rolling out renewables: 2025 saw two milestones reached in ESB’s renewable generation journey, as our first offshore wind farm – a joint venture with EDF Energy – commenced operation off the coast of Scotland, and we energised our first wholly owned solar farm at Bullstown in Co. Meath.
5. Empowering customers: By the end of 2025, ESB Networks had passed the milestone of 2 million smart meters installed. This is enabling every more households to unlock insights and cost benefits; for example, over 280,000 Electric Ireland customers are now on smart tariffs.
6. Focus on affordability: With cost-of-living pressures ongoing, we remained mindful of affordability for customers in 2025. Electric Ireland has implemented a cumulative average bill reduction of 19% in electricity and 23% in gas since late 2022, while holding prices steady through last winter. We also continued to support vulnerable customers through targeted assistance measures and fuel poverty retrofit initiatives.
7. Boosting biodiversity: We are advancing toward our goal to become nature-positive, undertaking site-level biodiversity enhancements and implementing programmes to develop critical sectoral skills, such as our marine mammal observer training programme.
8. Committed to communities: We disbursed over €2 million across community initiatives in 2025, including renewable community benefit funds and local development partnerships.
9. Spotlighting sustainability across the business: Our new CSRD-aligned reporting delivers enhanced sustainability disclosures in the context of a broader drive to embed sustainability throughout our business through ESB’s Sustainability Transformation Enablement Programme (STEP).
To read more about the highlights from 2025, the broader context of our sustainability journey, insights from our leadership team and more, click here to download the full Sustainability Report.