🇮🇪 Ireland: High Wind, Growing Solar and the Grid Operator’s Dilemma 🇮🇪

Synopsis

Ireland has long been a wind-first market — but utility-scale solar is now firmly on the agenda, and co-located storage is emerging as a critical tool for managing one of Europe’s most constrained grids. EirGrid’s system non-synchronous penetration limits, lengthy connection timelines and an evolving auction framework create a distinctive set of challenges and opportunities for developers and investors. This roundtable examines what the Irish market actually looks like for solar and storage in 2026.

• EirGrid’s SNSP limits and system constraints — how they shape solar and storage development and dispatch strategy
• The Irish auction framework — what RESS and LRAS have delivered and what the next procurement cycle looks like
• Co-located solar and storage in Ireland — what grid services, capacity payments and energy arbitrage are delivering
• Connection timelines, planning reform and the practical challenges of developing large-scale projects in Ireland
• What international developers and investors need to understand about Irish offtake, revenue structures and bankability