Blog Post 1 October 2025

Decarbonisation in Northern Ireland: the potential of a one-stop shop

As Programme Administrator of the Northern Ireland Sustainable Energy Programme (NISEP), we know a lot about the energy efficiency challenges in Northern Ireland.

The recent Department for the Economy (DfE) Energy Strategy for Northern Ireland (NIES) is a key development. It proposes a framework to address Northern Ireland’s contribution to tackling climate change that also enables a fair and just transition to a greener economy.

One of the five key principles in the strategy focuses on placing people at the heart of Northern Ireland’s energy future. Addressing this, the strategy proposes establishing a new one-stop shop (OSS) energy advice service for all domestic energy consumers. An initial pilot domestic retrofit scheme would be followed by a more substantive offering that would later become the main interface on all energy matters in Northern Ireland.

We believe that the provision of free, independent and impartial advice and support for everyone should be an integral part of Northern Ireland’s energy landscape. Advice has a central role in boosting the market in energy efficiency and in driving uptake of new and unfamiliar measures in homes at a faster rate than would be achieved by the market alone. A one-stop shop provides a streamlined advice model facilitating holistic lifestyle decarbonisation with the opportunity to eliminate duplication and gaps in provision.

In our strategy consultation response, we suggest that any one-stop shop for Northern Ireland should be:

Accessible: Provide accessible information through a free, inclusive, multi-channel service.
Independent: Gatekeep different energy efficiency programmes, including NISEP, to guarantee impartiality and quality.
Tailored: Offer technical and behavioural advice and financial signposting on a case by case basis.
Expert: Deliver accurate and locally focused information across the whole customer journey.
Educational: Enable behavioural change and climate action through public engagement.
Data-driven: Follow data insights to develop service functionality and accelerate Northern Ireland’s energy transition.

Comparing one-stop shop models

The one-stop shop model is gaining traction in EU and UK policy as a route to consumer-led energy decarbonisation. While the one-stop shop model is new to Northern Ireland, similar services are already in operation and may serve as useful case studies.

The EU Horizon 2020 project X-tendo identified the one-stop shop as one of 10 new features in the next generation Energy Performance Certificate. This project aimed to increase the rate and quality of energy renovations in Europe. We led the work package for X-tendo, monitoring the indicators and data handling approaches through several test projects.

Home Energy Scotland, which we also deliver on behalf of the Scottish Government, is the most effective one-stop shop model in operation in the UK. It serves as an exemplar around the world in tackling fuel poverty and reducing carbon emissions.

Home Energy Scotland provides tailored advice and financial support on home energy efficiency, sustainable travel and low carbon living. The service focuses on the needs of the consumer, with information accessible in-home, online and over the phone.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland runs the National Home Retrofit Scheme to fund the development of multiple business and community led one-stop shops in the Republic of Ireland.

Initially advised in the Republic of Ireland’s Climate Action Plan in 2019, the scheme’s aim is to test and develop the best one-stop shop model to meet energy targets by 2030. Today, several one-stop shops are in operation, some providing services nationwide and others in localised clusters.

Getting it right for Northern Ireland

The vast majority of 2050’s building stock already in existence. With that, the Climate Change Committee advises that significant retrofitting of buildings is needed to:

improve energy efficiency
reduce demand
adapt energy sourcing

This is particularly important in Northern Ireland. Research from the DfE suggests that homes currently use more energy than anywhere in the UK or the Republic of Ireland.

Decarbonisation of energy in buildings is vital to achieving Northern Ireland’s climate targets, but it will be a big task. There are generally higher levels of efficiency in its building stock compared to the rest of the UK. However, there’s also high dependence on oil heating and significant gaps in gas infrastructure.

Also, 22% of Northern Ireland’s population in fuel poverty. So, this task must also be balanced with the need to bring everyone along to access the health, financial and environmental benefits of warm and efficiently heated homes.

We hope that the vision set out in the NIES is adopted by the Northern Ireland Executive, as meeting climate targets in a fair way requires ambitious policies and urgent action. We’re ready to work with the Executive to help make the changes needed happen.