June 22, 2025 - Ireland has ended coal-fired power generation, with the 915-MW Moneypoint power plant exiting the market after 40 years of operation.

Operator ESB said June 20 in a transparency note on Nord Pool that unit 3 of the power plant on Ireland's southwest coast is now fully converted to heavy fuel oil.

ESB, in a previous transparency note, said Moneypoint-3, having been converted to heavy fuel oil, would operate under the TSO's direct dispatch instructions in the Balancing Market only.

While Moneypoint will now serve a limited backup role, burning heavy fuel oil under emergency instruction from EirGrid until 2029, its exit from the electricity market is a decisive step in Ireland's journey toward a fossil-free power system, campaign group Beyond Fossil Fuels said in a statement, noting that Ireland is now the sixth European market operating without coal.

"The end of coal burning at Moneypoint is a significant sign of progress and a clear indication that Ireland's fossil fuel era can and must draw to a close.

The government must now ensure oil backup is kept to an absolute minimum," said Jerry Mac Evilly, campaigns director at Friends of the Earth Ireland.

In October 2024, Ireland's planning body An Bord Pleanala approved ESB's plans to end coal burning at Moneypoint and convert it back to heavy fuel oil as emergency backup for grid operator EirGrid until end-2029.

Ireland's coal exit was made possible by progress on renewable power, which covered a third of domestic power consumption in 2024.

Ireland also imports power from Great Britain on three 500-MW interconnections, with the new 500-MW Celtic Interconnector from France starting in 2026.

Over the past two years, Moneypoint generated only 2 TWh, compared with 3 TWh of oil-fired generation and over 4 TWh of net power imports, according to Entso-e system data aggregated by Fraunhofer ISE. Onshore wind, ahead of gas, provides the majority of Irish power, the data showed.

Irish power for 2026 delivery settled June 19 at Eur121.60/MWh on EEX.

EU carbon allowance prices were assessed June 19 at Eur72.79/mtCO2e by Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights.

That compares to Eur60.56/mtCO2e for UK carbon allowance prices, with Irish importers potentially having to pay a CBAM charge from 2026 if the UK and EU ETS schemes cannot be linked in time to waive the EU CBAM.