Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 30 January 2024

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action

General Oversight of EirGrid: Discussion

Mr. Michael Mahon:

We are currently completing the ECP 2.3 process and are already looking at the ECP 2.4 process. A significant number of projects are looking to connect to the grid through that process.

Many of those projects are becoming very complex. What happens is that where there were additional projects in a particular area, the first will have been more straightforward because there will not have been a need for new infrastructure. A subsequent project may seek to connect before a preceding one has even started construction. We are waiting for the industry in certain cases and for planning decisions to evolve. In certain cases, we are waiting for those in the industry to decide, once they have a grid connection offer, to sign. We have been waiting for many months for a number of the various industry participants to sign up to particular connection offers or advance them, because they are waiting for further decisions, finance, etc.