Ireland Enduring Connection Policy Ecp Solar Grid Connection Guide

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Key Takeaways

• Large-scale solar farms and energy storage projects connect to the Irish grid under directions issued by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU).
• Under Section 34 of the Electricity Regulation Act 1999, the CRU directs EirGrid (TSO) and ESB Networks (DSO) on terms and conditions of network access.
• The ECP-2.4 framework targets 100 connection offers in total, including 70 offers for Category A generation and storage projects with MEC greater than 500kW.
• Category A offers prioritise the largest renewable energy generation for the first 25 projects, followed by earliest planning permission grant date.
• Application fee deposits for projects greater than 500kW stand at €7,000, while qualifying community-led projects deposit €2,000 with a two-year capacity reservation.

Regulatory Framework: The Role of the CRU and System Operators

Grid access in Ireland is centrally directed by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU). As statutory regulator, the CRU’s mission is to protect the public interest in Water, Energy and Energy Safety.

Connection policy is grounded in statutory legislation:

• Under Section 34 of the Electricity Regulation Act 1999, as amended (the 1999 Act), the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) may give directions to EirGrid, the transmission system operator (TSO), and ESB Networks, the distribution system operator (DSO) on the terms and conditions upon which connection offers are issued.

Following decades of fragmented grid allocation, the CRU introduced structured batch processing:

1. ECP-1 Decision: In 2018 the CRU published a decision on Enduring Connection Policy – Stage 1 (ECP-1) to prioritize 'shovel ready' projects holding planning permission.
2. ECP-2 Multi-Year Policy: This was followed in June 2020 with the CRU’s decision on Enduring Connection Policy – Stage 2 (ECP-2), establishing annual application windows (ECP-2.1, ECP-2.2, ECP-2.3).
3. ECP-2.4 Evolution: To bridge into upcoming European RED II directive timelines, ECP-2.4 will consist of a single batch window opening in October 2023 for two months.

Batch Volumes and Offer Categorisation

Under CRU directions, the system operators process a defined quota of applications per batch to ensure network engineering models remain robust:

In total, ECP-2.4 will target 100 connection offers in total. The number of Category A offers targeted is reduced from 85 as with each of the ECP-2 batches to 70 for ECP-2.4 in recognition of the expected pipeline of projects and the workload of the SOs in processing offers.

Storage Sizing and Prioritisation Thresholds

Commercial battery storage developers pairing BESS with solar farms must consider updated rules:

• Standalone Storage: Within Category A, storage in this context means that 100% of the MEC is storage, facilitating dedicated co-located or standalone battery facilities.
• Renewable Prioritisation: For hybrid or solar arrays, applications are prioritised by largest renewable energy generation (first 25), enabling multi-megawatt solar installations to secure earlier offer processing.

Application Deposits and Community Protections

Developers entering ECP batches face structured financial and timeline commitments:

• Commercial Fee Deposits: Application fee deposit for projects with MEC greater than 500kW will be increasing to €7,000 in ECP-2.4.
• Community-Led Support: Application fee deposit for community-led projects remains at €2,000. Furthermore, associated capacity (with connection method and cost) will be held for two years from connection assessment issuance, allowing local energy cooperatives to secure planning without losing network capacity.
• Firm Access Governance: The Firm Access Methodology as set out in SEM-23-004 will apply to ECP-2.4 projects, regulating market dispatch and constraint compensation in the Single Electricity Market (SEM).