Irish Rural Link held a series of consultation workshops on EirGrid’s Shaping Our Electricity Future Strategy.
A new report that details innovative approaches to developing the grid to meet ambitious 2030 renewable energy targets. It must redevelop the grid to manage 70% of Ireland’s electricity coming from renewable sources by 2030.

Shaping Our Electricity Future comprises four approaches to achieving this, as well as meeting the projected increase demand for electricity over the coming years.
- Generation-Led: Government policy would influence where renewable energy is generated – favouring locations where the grid is already strong
- Developer-Led: In this approach, we continue to connect new sources of renewable electricity as requested in any location
- Technology-Led: This approach uses technical solutions to make the grid more resilient so it can better handle the variable nature of renewable energy
- Demand-Led: Government policy determines where large energy users locate in Ireland
The workshops aimed to get the thoughts of rural communities and individuals on the four draft approaches in order to reach the 2030 targets.
Speakers included;
- Liam Ryan, Eirgrid Chief Innovation and Planning Officer
- Brian O’Gallachoir, UCC
- Bill Kelly, Community Power / Tipperary Energy
- Chaired Seamus Boland, Irish Rural Link.
People can find out more about the public consultation and how to have their say in Shaping Ireland’s Electricity Future by visiting consult.eirgrid.ie
Presentation & Video – Thursday 15th April 2021 – South West Region
Event Video
EirGrid South West Region Presentation
https://irishrurallink.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/2021_04_15_IRL_SouthWest.pptx
Presentations & Videos – South East Region Tuesday 30th March 2021
MaREI https://irishrurallink.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/MaREI-Why-increase-renewable-electricity.pdf
Community Power https://irishrurallink.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/CP-TEA-presentation-to-Irish-Rural-Link.pptx.pdf
EirGrid https://irishrurallink.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Eirgrid-Presentation.pptx.pdf
Video link https://youtu.be/XL_TSFnmlmI
Presentation & Video – Tuesday 27th April 2021 – North West Region
Video – Thursday 29th April 2021 North East Region Workshop
(15) North East Region- Shaping Our Electricity Future Public Consultation Workshop – YouTube
Presentation & Video – Wednesday 5th May 2021 Midlands Region Workshop
(10) Shaping Our Electricity Future Public Consultation Workshop Midlands Region – YouTube
Video – Friday 7th May 2021 – Border Region Workshop
(15) Border Region- Shaping Our Electricity Future Public Consultation Workshop – YouTube