Ireland is set to introduce new policies that would allow private companies including data center operators to build their own energy transmission infrastructure.
The Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan, last week received government approval for two memos – one on private wires and another on energy storage. The memos set out future plans for the development of more storage and a new private wires framework.
Currently, transmission infrastructure in Ireland is owned and managed by EirGrid-owned ESB. But amid ongoing transmission limits in Dublin and a moratorium on new grid connections for data centers, private companies are pushing for changes that would allow them to build their own power lines.
In August 2023, the Department of the Environment, Climate, and Communications (DECC) published a Private Wires public consultation. The consultation responses will now guide the development of a new Private Wires Framework that will allow companies to build and manage their own energy infrastructure outside the control of the ESB.
The memo said private wires would “work in complement with national policies and the ongoing development of the grid, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, or the grid systems operator.”
“Bring it on; Private Wire cannot happen quickly enough in Ireland; after years of talk, it finally looks like some meaningful action,” Garry Connolly, founder of Host in Ireland, said on LinkedIn.
The consultation received 128 responses. Microsoft, Amazon, and Google are said to be amongst the companies pushing to be allowed to build their own transmission infrastructure. DCD understands other data center operators are also interested in the possibility.
"It is clear from both the engagement on the Electricity Storage Policy and the large number of responses to the Private Wires consultation that they are areas that are of interest to many. They offer the potential to deploy more renewables within the energy system and to assist with our decarbonization goals,” said Ryan.
"Getting more renewables onto the system is key if we are to meet our climate goals. Delivering an electricity storage policy framework and a Private Wires framework is essential to unlock private sector resources to build new electricity infrastructure."
On the energy storage side, The Department of the Environment said Ireland currently has around 800MW of energy storage capacity across the country, and the new policy framework recommends that Ireland “procures additional storage immediately.”
“The addition of these electricity storage systems will not only increase the amounts of greener renewable electricity onto the grid, which will ultimately provide cheaper, green electricity to the consumer, it will ensure that Ireland’s grid can exploit the opportunities provided by the fast pace of our renewable generation program and facilitating the growth of Irelands industrial sectors,” the memo said.
Ireland has had a de facto moratorium on data center developments in the greater Dublin area with power operator EirGrid saying it would not accept any applications until 2028.
Companies have been seeking alternative options within the area – including connections to the country’s gas network and running data centers off on-site gas power plants.
In the UK, energy firm Octopus is reportedly set to put up its own pylons to help expand the local electricity network. The provider has been in talks with the regulator Ofgem over plans to end the National Grid's monopoly in the electricity network in England and Wales.
