FAQ's

Ireland’s Climate Action Plan is the roadmap to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and tackle the climate crisis. It will be central to our success that we can accommodate significantly increased renewables and meet rapidly rising demand driven by the electrification of heat and transport, while continuing to deliver a safe, secure electricity supply. 

In this dynamic environment, ESB Networks’ National Network, Local Connections Programme is a multi-year project that will transform how energy on Ireland’s electricity distribution network is managed. In the decade ahead, all customers, from renewable generators to large energy users, to homes, farms and business customers will adopt new technologies, products, and services, changing how they generate, store, or consume electricity. With a growing need to connect how we use and store electricity with local renewable generation, the National Network, Local Connections Programme is needed to ensure that the distribution system can monitor, forecast, and manage power at a local level. 

In this new energy landscape, customers and communities across the country will become more active in managing and controlling their electricity usage.   Through active participation by all system users in the National Network, Local Connections Programme, we can develop a distribution system that is safe and secure, introducing new localised marketplaces which reflect new local and regional needs, and makes a positive impact in the fight against climate change. 

Ireland’s Climate Action Plan is a roadmap to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and tackle the climate crisis.  The Climate Action Plan is different from previous plans which had focussed on larger scale generation, because it moves the focus to changing how individuals and communities use energy, rather than just large-scale generation. 

Implementing the Plan will help us meet our overall 2030 climate commitments and put us on the path to achieving net zero emissions by 2050.   Specific actions underway across all sections of society include:

Heating

• Promote use of heat pumps or other renewable heating.
• Phasing out of fossil-fuel heating systems such as oil and gas.

Transport

• Initiatives to support switching to electric vehicles.  Investment in electrifying rail lines.

Power Generation

• Supporting microgeneration in Ireland.
• Increasing our reliance on renewable energy sources to 80%.
• Facilitating and supporting new renewable energy technologies on and offshore.
• Phasing out of coal and peat electricity generation.

Empowering Customers

• Encouraging communities to use renewable energy locally, from homes and sports clubs to community centres and churches.

The role of the National Network, Local Connections Programme is to facilitate these and many other changes.  For example:

• The heating, transport and power generation developments will require a transformation on how energy on Ireland's electricity distribution network is monitored, forecast, and managed at a local level as delivered in the National Network, Local Connections Programme
• The empowerment of customers will rely on new services to support the activities of renewable energy communities and citizen energy communities.  These include the introduction of localised marketplaces and new dashboards and platforms to provide communities with "visibility" of their local renewable energy sources, carbon intensity, and the impact of how they manage their demand for electricity

The National Network, Local Connections Programme will mean that over time we can provide a quicker or cheaper connection for customers trying to connect new technologies (for example renewable generators or electric vehicle charge points) if they are happy to occasionally vary their electricity demand or output based on local electricity system conditions. It will also mean that homes, farms, businesses, and communities can avail themselves of opportunities to be paid for varying their electricity demand or output based on electricity system conditions.

In individual pilot locations, business customers will have the opportunity to participate in calls to tender from the end of 2021onwards.  In individual pilot locations, homes and farms will have an opportunity to participate commencing with recruitment from end 2022 onwards. A wider rollout, enabling homes, farms, and businesses to avail of these new opportunities could commence at the end of 2024, however the decision to commit investment to achieving this will be subject to stakeholder consultation.

No. One of the key benefits of the National Network, Local Connections programme is that it will provide opportunities for homes and businesses who do not have their own generation to participate. Customers who are willing to vary their electricity demand occasionally, when for example there is a surplus (or shortage) of local renewable energy, will also be able to participate.

This will vary depending on :

• Your electricity supplier or energy management company
• Whether you already have a "smart" charger or inverter
• What technologies you already have in your home

We will work with electricity suppliers and energy companies to encourage the development of simple, standard offerings for customers with different household energy needs and conditions.

In September 2021 issued consultations have informed the direction of the programme including for example who we will engage with, how, and the speed and locations where the programme will be rolled out. This has been documented in our delivery plans  -  Please review our delivery plan & previous consultation page for these documents

We welcome your thoughts and encourage you to participate in our formal consultation by registration to get involved in our consultations. To register please email engagement@esbnetworks.ie   Get Involved 

There will be widespread opportunities to participate in pilots.  In Q4 2021 we are launching the first call to tender, and we are encouraging energy companies to engage directly with customers who may be willing to participate in pilots going live in late 2022.  In the 2021 call to tender, for technical reasons it is likely that only commercial customers will be able to participate.  Throughout early 2022 ESB Networks will engage with you and your energy company with respect to meeting technical / technology requirements for the pilot. 

In 2022 we will be launching further calls to tender, again encouraging energy companies to engage with customers in the pilot locations and to develop innovative and effective proposals to meet the customer and technical requirements communicated. In the 2022 call for proposals, we will be actively seeking proposals which involve the participation of domestic customers.

For the energy industry, this will mean new opportunities to provide consumer services and increase renewable energy consumption in Ireland. Suppliers, aggregators, and energy management companies will be encouraged to develop new consumer offerings. Generators will be encouraged to avail themselves of new connection offerings and to participate in local markets for demand side response and storage, with a view to reducing dispatch down.

There is the potential for flexibility to offer a valuable solution to a range of different challenges over the coming years. In some areas, demand side flexibility will be needed to avoid turning down renewable generation under sunny / windy conditions. In other areas, demand side flexibility will be needed to support secure and efficient electricity system operation where there is a high density of electric car charging.  In Q4 2021 we published a detailed multiyear projections of the types and amount of flexibility which could deliver value for customers and for the electricity system, over a multi-year horizon. This document can be downloaded here / PDF 10980 KB

Systems will be needed both on the consumer side and the industry side for ESB Networks to securely manage flexibility operating on the local networks.  ESB Networks is responsible for putting in place the operational control systems and market platform needed to support this.  ESB Networks is actively encouraging energy suppliers and energy management companies (including for example “aggregators”) to put in place the requisite energy management technologies on the consumer side.

Yes, in September 2021 issued consultations to shape the direction of the programme including, for example, who we will engage with, how, and the speed and locations where the programme will be rolled out, the technologies needed and the phased roll out of local markets.  The delivery plans relating to the programme delivery can be found in our delivery plans & previous consultations section here. 

Yes, current grid capacity issues are an important input to our programme rollout planning.  Locations which are currently constrained are prioritised for piloting activities over the coming years.  This is happening as a complement to the ongoing network upgrade programmes delivered by ESB Networks, ensuring that customers have the capacity and security they need in a timely and efficient manner.

One of the objectives of the National Network Local Connections Programme is to improve the ease and speed of access for new renewable generation, from microgenerators up to utility scale, by:

• Providing quicker or cheaper access for generators to parties who are willing to occasionally have their output reduced under certain local network conditions
• Reducing how much and how often renewable generators are turned down through the introduction of local flexibility markets where demand response or storage can be sourced to avoid the need to turn generation down

These will be the subject of piloting activity from 2023 onwards.

The CRU (not ESB Networks) has authority to grant “sandbox” treatment where necessary. If there are cases where this would enable effective or timely piloting activities, ESB Networks will engage with the CRU as appropriate.

ESB Networks is committed to ensuring that the National Network, Local Connections Programme is delivered in compliance with all applicable data privacy laws and that all customer personal data is safe and secure.