Overhaul to electricity grid planning signals end for developer-led model

Eirgrid has launched its Shaping Our Electricity Future plan, requiring €1 billion in additional investment for upgrades it says will be “very challenging to deliver”

Mark Foley, Eirgrid’s chief executive, said the plan would secure the transition to a clean energy future. Picture: Aidan Crawley

A major overhaul of how Ireland’s electricity system is planned will strip developers of the ability to locate private energy assets wherever they like.

Under the Shaping Our Electricity Future plan, launched today by Eirgrid and the Minister for Environment, energy generators, such as gas plants or wind farms, and large energy users, such as data centres, will be told where they can and can’t locate their new developments.

The move marks a radical pivot ...