Renewable transport fuel obligation raised to 36 per cent for 2027

Ireland’s renewable transport fuel obligation will stand at 36 per cent for the 2027 obligation period under S.I. No. 567 of 2026, the European Union (Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation) Regulations 2026, published in Iris Oifigiúil on 13 November 2026. The regulations are made under Section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972 and come into effect on 1 January 2027. Their stated purpose is to amend Part 5A of the National Oil Reserves Agency Act 2007 (No. 7 of 2007).

The operative change is to section 44D of the principal Act, the provision that fixes the percentage rates applying to each renewable transport fuel obligation period. The instrument sets out four distinct rates for the 2027 period, covering the headline renewable share, the advanced-fuel sub-target and two caps that restrict particular categories of feedstock counted towards compliance. The amended Part 5A of the 2007 Act is the statutory framework through which the obligation is administered and through which renewable transport fuel account holders are accounted for.

The ground for the change was laid earlier in the year. On 4 August 2026, Iris Oifigiúil published the European Union (Transport) (Renewable Energy) Regulations 2026 (S.I. No. 386 of 2026), made by the Minister for Transport, Darragh O’Brien, T.D., under the same Section 3 power. Those regulations made technical amendments to the renewable transport fuel provisions of the 2007 Act and related statutory instruments in order to transpose EU Renewable Energy Directive requirements on sustainability certification and greenhouse gas emissions saving criteria.

The four rates fixed for 2027

The amendment to section 44D establishes the following percentages for the 2027 renewable transport fuel obligation period:

• The renewable transport fuel obligation: 36 per cent.
• The advanced biofuel and renewable fuels of non-biological origin obligation: 8 per cent.
• The crop cap: 3 per cent.
• The high ILUC-risk cap: 45 per cent of the total certified disposal of biofuels and biogas produced from high ILUC-risk feedstock supplied by a renewable transport fuel account holder.

Caps measured on certified disposals

The two caps operate by reference to the total certified disposal of biofuels and biogas by a renewable transport fuel account holder, rather than as separate volume targets. That structure places the compliance test on the certified disposal chain that account holders report, so the 3 per cent crop cap and the 45 per cent high ILUC-risk cap constrain what share of an account holder’s certified biofuels and biogas may derive from crop-based and high indirect land-use change-risk feedstocks respectively.

The instrument as published states that the high ILUC-risk cap applies to biofuels and biogas produced from high ILUC-risk feedstock “supplied during the 2019 obligation period”. That reference to the 2019 period appears in the text of the regulations alongside rates expressly stated to apply to the 2027 obligation period.

An obligation binding from the first day of 2027

Commencement is fixed at 1 January 2027 with no transitional period provided for in the published text. Because the rates take effect on the opening day of the obligation period, suppliers and account holders will be measured against the new percentages from the first litre of the 2027 period rather than proportionally across the year. The 36 per cent headline rate, the 8 per cent advanced-fuel rate and the two caps therefore all apply to the same twelve-month accounting window.

The regulation follows the pattern used for the earlier 2026 instrument, which was likewise made under Section 3 of the 1972 Act and framed as an amendment to existing renewable transport fuel provisions rather than as a standalone consolidation of the regime.

What it means for fuel suppliers

For fuel suppliers and renewable transport fuel account holders, the 2027 period becomes materially more demanding than a simple headline-rate change: the 36 per cent renewable obligation must be met while keeping crop-based feedstocks inside a 3 per cent cap and high ILUC-risk material inside a 45 per cent cap, with at least 8 percentage points of the total coming from advanced biofuels and renewable fuels of non-biological origin. The combined effect is to push compliance towards waste-derived, advanced and non-biological renewable fuels, and to make certificate and sustainability documentation the critical operational constraint for account holders from 1 January 2027.

Source: Iris Oifigiúil, No. 91, 13 November 2026, section I (official reference: S.I. No. 567 of 2026).