This week

— Philip Connolly, EnergyView

Solar capacity now connected to the grid in Ireland, up from 2 MW a decade ago.

Battery storage loses its demand charge

From 1 October 2026, the CRU will charge battery storage as generation rather than demand, removing the Demand Transmission Use of System fee of up to €30 per MWh that applies every time a battery imports power to charge. Standalone units and storage co-located with other generation will instead pay the same Generation Transmission Use of System charges as wind and solar farms. The change drew 17 consultation responses, with all but one in support and none opposed, and builds on last year's market rules that let storage trade in the all-island wholesale market.

CRU eases the cost of biomethane connection

The CRU updated its biomethane connection policy, extending the economic test appraisal period from 10 to 15 years, which is expected to reduce or remove the supplemental contribution some plants pay on top of the standard 30% upfront cost share. Smaller plants and those further from the network stand to benefit most. The decision also reworks financial security, at 70% of socialised capital costs and falling as injected gas earns tariff revenue, and removes the previous seven-year cap. It sets the regulatory treatment for Centralised Grid Injection, with Gas Networks Ireland's first such facility at Mitchelstown, Co Cork, able to inject 700 GWh a year when fully operational.

A private wires bill reaches the Dáil

Independent TD Barry Heneghan introduced the Electricity Regulation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2026 at First Stage on 17 June. The Private Members' Bill would create a regulated framework for private wires, direct lines that move power between renewable generation, storage and users without connecting to the national grid, with a six-month CRU decision timeline, safety oversight and a public register of connections. It is open to large energy users, SMEs, housing developments, community energy projects and storage operators, a wider scope than the Government's own private wires Bill, whose general scheme was published at the end of 2025 and is directed at larger industrial use. The Taoiseach has said the Minister will engage with the Bill as it moves through the Houses.

Equinix runs a Dublin data centre on hydrogen

Equinix began a 12-week trial of hydrogen fuel cells for backup power at its DB3 data centre in Blanchardstown, Dublin 15, with ESB and GeoPura. Two container-sized GeoPura units run on green hydrogen through PEM fuel cells and provide up to half a megawatt of continuous, zero direct onsite emission power, with the technology scalable to 50 MW. It is the first such deployment across Equinix's 280-plus global sites, and is being used to test hydrogen as an alternative to diesel and gas backup, and for grid peak-shaving in the Dublin metropolitan area. Waste heat from the units could feed district heating, and the water byproduct can be recycled into onsite cooling.

Solar becomes Ireland's third-largest source

Solar is now the third-largest source of indigenously generated electricity on the national grid, the Minister said at the Solar Ireland conference on 18 June. He committed to funding the domestic Solar PV grant, currently capped at €1,800, for the lifetime of the Government to 2030, and hinted that a residential battery support could be introduced this year. Solar Ireland published its Scale of Solar 2026 report the same day, and the sixth onshore RESS auction is due to begin later this year.

O'Brien likens data centres to German carmaking

Energy Minister Darragh O'Brien defended data centres as a benefit to the country during a Dáil debate on a Labour motion to ban new centres, likening their role to Germany's car manufacturing industry.

The next Climate Action Plan opens for consultation

The Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment opened a public consultation on 15 June to inform the next Climate Action Plan update, due later this year, spanning Electricity, Transport, Industry, Buildings, Agriculture and Land Use as Ireland moves into the second Carbon Budget period. Submissions close at 5.30pm on Monday 17 August, via the EU survey portal.

A Call for Evidence opens on geological hydrogen storage

The Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment opened a Call for Evidence on 8 June on developing geological storage for hydrogen in Ireland, part of the National Hydrogen Programme's work toward a storage regulatory framework by 2028. Submissions close 17 July.

Coming up

Hold the dates

How China became an energy superpower

Bryony Worthington sits down with Professor Ning Li of Xiamen University, the nuclear engineer credited with coining the term Small Modular Reactor, for an hour on how China turned solar, batteries and electric vehicles into its biggest exports, why its grid has held up through recent shocks, and what its industrial scaling means for everyone else. Cleaning Up, the Liebreich and Worthington interview series, is one of the sharpest listens going in energy. Worth your time.

▶ Watch on YouTube

Batteries and biomethane rarely make the front page, but they are what turn a wind-and-solar system into a working one. A week that made both cheaper to build is a bigger week than it looks.

Philip ConnollyEditor · EnergyView

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