Limited grid capacity leads to increased constraint levels and project costs in Ireland

The lack of transmission capacity in areas of the country where large numbers of renewable projects are planning to connect is deemed as the greatest barrier to RES deployment. Many RES connected to the grid face high constraint levels particularly in the West and North-West due to network limitations. Consequently, a huge amount of renewable electricity is wasted. Without significant investment in grid infrastructure, these constraint levels will reach double figures, for both existing and future projects, if the grid is not reinforced in time for the future pipeline. One direct consequence is that the commercial viability of projects entering the development pipeline will be affected, due to the fact that some projects cannot connect to the system until the relevant grid reinforcements are realised. This will also lead to the increase of the overall costs of renewable development as these constraint levels will be reflected in higher RESS auction bids, and ultimately paid for by consumers via the Public Service Obligation (PSO) levy.