Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 28 September 2023
109. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the measures that are being taken to ensure grid capacity to achieve our 2030 renewable targets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41787/23]
View answerResponsibility for the regulation of the electricity market is a matter for the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) which is an independent regulator, accountable to a committee of the Oireachtas and not me as Minister. The CRU was assigned responsibility for regulation of the Irish electricity sector following the enactment of the Electricity Regulation Act, 1999 and subsequent legislation.
The CRU is responsible for, inter alia, the economic regulation of the electricity system operators ESB Networks, distribution, and Eirgrid, transmission. The cost of building, safely operating and maintaining the electricity system is recovered by system operators through charges on customers, all of which is overseen and agreed with the CRU. System operator spending is agreed with the CRU in five year cycles, referred to as Price Reviews.
In July 2023, Eirgrid published an updated version of Shaping our Electricity Future, a roadmap for the transmission grid out to 2030 necessary to deliver upon the current renewable energy targets and carbon budgets. Separately ESB Networks in January 2023 published their Networks for Net Zero Strategy which outlines its commitment to futureproofing Ireland’s electricity network, meeting our 2030 goals, and making the country’s goal of net zero by 2050 a reality.
Eirgrid and ESB Networks are independent of the Minister in the exercise of their functions as System Operators. The matters raised in this question are operational matters for both Eirgrid and ESB Networks, in the first instance, and the CRU, and therefore not a matter in which I have function.
