Private Wires Bill will support Irish energy security

By Justin Moran, Director of External Affairs at Wind Energy Ireland

Ireland’s energy system is under pressure. Demand for electricity is growing, the grid is congested in many parts of the country, and too much clean, home-grown renewable energy is wasted because it cannot get to where it is needed.

In that context, the Government’s Private Wires Bill is a practical, sensible and badly needed reform that deserves broad public support.

At its simplest, the Bill would allow a wind or solar farm to connect directly to a nearby large energy user – such as a factory, hospital or data centre – through a privately built electricity line.

Today, it is possible for a factory to install a wind turbine on its own site – like Astellas Pharma in Kerry or Janssen Biologics in Cork – but not to connect direct to a wind or solar farm further away.

This matters because grid congestion has become one of the biggest barriers to Ireland’s energy security. In 2025 alone, around 13 per cent of wind energy – worth around €450 million – was effectively wasted because the grid could not accommodate it, increasing our reliance on expensive imported fossil fuels.

By linking generation directly to demand, private wires reduce the amount of electricity flowing across constrained parts of the network, freeing up space for more renewable energy.

National grid critical

Crucially, private wires are not a substitute for the national grid. The grid remains – and must remain – the backbone of Ireland’s electricity system and a critical State-owned asset.

The Bill is clear that private wires would only be permitted in carefully defined circumstances, subject to approval by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU). This is about complementing and supporting the grid, not undermining it.

Some critics have suggested the Bill amounts to a form of privatisation. That is simply not true. The ownership, operation and expansion of the national grid will continue to be carried out by ESB Networks and EirGrid on behalf of the State. There is literally no one arguing otherwise.

A private wire is simply a private cable, paid for by private investment, connecting two private businesses subject to strict oversight and approval by the regulator. Nothing in the Bill transfers public assets into private hands.

There has also been some concern about the potential link between private wires and data centre development. It is important to separate two distinct debates.

Easing grid pressure

Decisions about whether specific developments should proceed belong in the planning system and national policy, not in a technical infrastructure bill. What the Private Wires Bill does is allow large energy users, of all kinds, to directly connect to renewable generation where appropriate – cutting emissions, easing grid pressure and reducing costs.

That includes new data centres, existing data centres and also other large energy users in medtech, pharma and manufacturing.

We already have an existing private wire connection on the all-island electricity system. Belfast Airport can get around a quarter of its electricity from a private wire connection to a local solar farm because private wires are permitted under British law as they are in many other European countries.

Why should Irish businesses be prevented from cutting their bills and cutting their emissions?

The choice facing policymakers and the public is not between private wires or the national grid. It is whether we use every sensible tool available to deliver clean, affordable and secure energy.

The Private Wires Bill is just one more tool we can use to build an Irish electrostate, the resilient, independent, energy system that our country urgently needs.

This is legislation worth backing.

This article was originally published in The Irish Examiner.