Read the grid position. Keep the unknowns visible.
Q4 2026, as at . A dated view of the Ireland country grid context, covering connection policy, network publications and planning sources.
This is an in-quarter edition, not a recap of the full quarter. It reports what the reviewed material could establish by the stated date. It does not report later outcomes or establish a site's connection rights, compliance or energisation date.
A recent access date does not make historical headroom current. Each entry below keeps the source's scope and limitations beside its findings. Publication dates that are not established stay unknown.
01
Connection policy
Read the new-application connection policy and its offer process together. Their application to an existing site depends on that site's actual connection position.
Connection policy for new data centre applications, including matching dispatchable generation or storage, additional renewable electricity and network location assessment. At least 80% of annual demand must be met by additional renewable electricity generated in the Republic of Ireland, with a six-year glide path from energisation. Requirements and transitional scope must be checked against the actual application date and connection position.
Limits on its use
A policy requirement is not evidence that a particular site has complied or has connection rights. Onsite or proximate generation is permitted; onsite-only generation is not a universal requirement. Do not retrospectively apply the new application rules to an earlier agreement without checking transitional scope. No fixed publisher update cadence is stated; PowerPlotr proposes a weekly policy check.
Implements CRU/2025236. For new transmission data centres at or above 10 MVA, nominated dispatchable generation or storage must match MIC after applicable de-rating and be delivered before energisation or demand ramp-up. Nominated generation is separately connected and metered and participates in the SEM. The stated offer-processing periods are approximately 7.5 calendar months where nominated generation and renewables already have offers, or up to 18 months where associated generation has newly applied through ECP-GSS.
Limits on its use
These are conditional application-to-offer periods, not construction or energisation durations, and are excluded from energisation calculations. A complete application, linked generation status and fees matter. An offer is not an accepted agreement. Earlier applications can remain under CRU/21/124. Publisher updates are event-driven; proposed review is weekly.
Approves fault ride-through, rate of change of frequency and active power recovery requirements for existing and future transmission-connected demand facilities. The technical requirements include remaining connected within the specified voltage profile, withstanding plus or minus 1 Hz/s and recovering 90% of pre-fault active power within 500 milliseconds after fault clearance and voltage recovery to 0.9 per unit. Compliance is assessed at the point of connection.
Limits on its use
The associated Grid Code amendment takes effect on 27 October 2026. This is a separate technical requirement from the December 2025 connection policy. Site compliance, an approved derogation and any demand utilisation restriction need direct evidence. Missing public compliance evidence means unverified, not automatically non-compliant. Publisher updates are event-driven; proposed review is weekly.
The CRU directs EirGrid to amend the Grid Code five weeks after the 22 September 2026 decision. EirGrid's Grid Code Modifications register labels this approval effective 27 October 2026. The letter applies the technical requirements to all transmission-connected demand facilities.
Limits on its use
The effective date does not itself prove compliance or an energisation entitlement at any site. Review the decision, current Grid Code and any approved derogation together. Publisher cadence is event-driven; proposed review is weekly through implementation.
Explains application-specific assessment of capacity, voltage, system stability, short-circuit effects and outages. Continuous demand above 50 MW is significant for the Irish 110 kV network and should focus on connection voltages above 110 kV. Dedicated loop-in connections are difficult to integrate and require wider system benefit.
Limits on its use
General technical context cannot establish a connection point, headroom or capacity allocation for a particular site. Every proposal still requires operator assessment. Publisher cadence is event-driven; proposed review is monthly and after a related policy decision.
Pages 11 to 12 identify high-level potential on the 220 kV network around Galway, Limerick and Cork, subject to individual assessment and policy compliance. The overview considers greater Dublin fully constrained for new data centre development. It advises a prudent mid-2030s assumption for new connections in the identified areas because of work and outage programmes.
Limits on its use
Regional opportunity is not site-specific capacity or a contractual right. Mid-2030s is qualitative operator context, not a bounded energisation window or a promised 2035 date. Earlier applications and agreements require their own transitional-policy check. Detailed heat maps are planned through the 2027 Ten Year Transmission Forecast Statement. No recurring publisher cadence is specified; proposed review is monthly.
Indicates available transformer capacity for demand and generation at distribution substations. The download is labelled July 2026, but station capacity and demand contracts and offers are dated to Q4 2025, with 2024/2025 load readings. The publisher's stated objective is quarterly map updates. PowerPlotr proposes a monthly check for a replacement file and records the underlying data date separately from its label.
Limits on its use
Transformer headroom is not guaranteed upstream network capacity, a connection offer, or site rights. HV locations are indicative. ESB's 6 to 9 month minor-works and approximately 2 to 3 year significant-station-work examples concern MV connections up to 10 MVA under stated conditions; they are not valid timing inputs for large transmission-connected pilots.
The DNDP identifies distribution investment and flexibility needs. Its Demand Capacity Headroom Report 2025 provides indicative headroom at existing 110 kV and 38 kV substations under four growth scenarios, with annual forecasts to 2030 and five-year intervals to 2050. The publisher says capacity workbooks update annually and network development plans every two years. Proposed PowerPlotr review is monthly.
Limits on its use
Workbook headroom does not establish upstream feeder or transmission capacity, final site connections or rights. Future headroom can depend on planned reinforcement; verify the specific project's delivery and consent status. The checked landing page identifies and explains the workbooks; workbook cells have not been imported into the pilot.
The source register retains the distinction between a published plan, a draft consultation and an adequacy assessment. Project dates require a site-specific dependency check.
The checked regulatory publication register lists Transmission Development Plan 2024, the 2024 Ten-Year Transmission Forecast Statement and current adequacy publications. This is the discovery and version-control entry for the earlier published development plan while the 2026 to 2035 draft is under CRU consultation.
Limits on its use
A listed project is not evidence that it supplies a particular site, has all consents, or guarantees a delivery date. No reinforcement dependency has been assigned to a pilot merely from geographic proximity. The statutory development-plan cycle is two years; PowerPlotr proposes monthly checks for a new approved version or delivery update.
Consultation opened 7 October 2026 and is scheduled to close 20 November 2026. The linked draft is dated June 2026 and describes planned transmission works, contracted customer connections and indicative delivery timeframes. Development plans are published on a two-year cycle. Proposed PowerPlotr review is weekly during consultation and on publication of the final version.
Limits on its use
This is a draft under consultation as at the access date. Do not label it final or treat its project dates as a site connection commitment. A named reinforcement must be matched to published site-specific connection scope before it becomes an energisation dependency.
The current adequacy publication assesses demand and generation over 2026 to 2035. It provides the successor resource-adequacy context to older Generation Capacity Statements, together with its main report, workbook, methodology and country assumptions. The main report's data-centre forecast considers projects already connected or with signed connection agreements at its study freeze date.
Limits on its use
System adequacy is distinct from local connection headroom. The forecast is not a live site-level connection register and cannot establish a particular site's contracted or energised capacity. Publication and data-freeze dates differ. PowerPlotr proposes a monthly check for the next assessment, corrections or updated inputs; no fixed publication day is assumed.
Official search for appeals, direct strategic infrastructure applications and related cases, including grid works. The current authority is An Coimisiún Pleanála, formerly An Bord Pleanála. Search by case reference, location, applicant and infrastructure to match a site with grid planning decisions and conditions. Proposed review is weekly and whenever a relevant case changes.
Limits on its use
A grid planning application, pre-application consultation or permission does not establish an executed connection agreement, import capacity, route rights or energisation. Check the actual decision documents and exact development boundary. A target decision date is not the decision. The portal has no guaranteed fixed case-update interval.
Weekly lists support monitoring of new cases and decisions. They are a discovery source for grid infrastructure and associated generation that may affect a site. Publisher cadence and proposed PowerPlotr review are weekly.
Limits on its use
A list entry must be followed to the case and underlying documents before becoming a site-level power statement. Discovery of a nearby infrastructure project is not evidence of a connection dependency or capacity entitlement.
Explains direct strategic infrastructure applications and the pre-application consultation process, with separate guidance for applicants, planning authorities and the public. It is a route for discovering early grid and generation proposals before a final application or decision. Proposed review is monthly and on procedural change.
Limits on its use
Public awareness of a pre-application consultation is not participation in that consultation, a permission, or a grid reservation. The existence of a consultation does not establish that a project will proceed. No fixed publisher refresh interval is stated.
Official portal for local authority planning applications. Use the specific authority register and case documents to establish published substation, cable, generation, storage and site planning scope. Proposed review is weekly for active pilot cases and when new documents are lodged.
Limits on its use
Portal coverage and historical files vary by authority, so the original authority record remains necessary. Applicant statements remain applicant evidence unless independently corroborated. Planning does not prove a connection offer or agreement, and an indicative equipment rating is not contracted import capacity. No common publisher refresh interval is stated.
The proposed PowerPlotr review interval comes from each country context entry. It is not the publisher's publication cadence or evidence that an automated review has run. The next review date is derived as the actual last check plus the proposed interval. Site-critical material is checked again when a paid opinion is issued.
Planned monthly country briefings will cover connection policy changes, TSO and DSO publications, reinforcement milestones, and notable applications, offers and refusals, with sources. Ireland comes first, followed by the United Kingdom, Spain, Poland, the Netherlands and Denmark.
€80per month for an individual
€500per month for a firm, up to 10 seats
All prices exclude VAT. Registration records interest only. Monthly subscriptions are not yet live.
