Regulator opens consultation on strategy to manage energy demand

A new energy demand strategy will look at ways to minimise the impact of large energy users, including data centres, on Ireland’s carbon emissions targets as part of an effort to “dramatically lower” the environmental damage incurred as the economy grows.

The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) on Wednesday opened a public consultation that it said will inform a new strategy to reduce the overall carbon intensity of the Republic’s energy demand.

In its first phase, the consultation will focus on three areas, the regulator said, including the targeting and incentivisation of smart meter uptake as well as demand flexibility within the electricity system.

The consultation will also look at ways to connect new large energy users to the electricity and gas systems that minimise the impact on national carbon emissions.

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“This may be through the provision of connections which are low to zero carbon emissions, or bring significant flexibility by a large energy user when they connect to the electricity or gas network,” the CRU said. “This focus area will seek to dramatically lower the carbon intensity of our future economic growth, working with industry to align their own decarbonisation targets and strategies with the national frameworks within which they operate.”

Large energy users – a category that includes some of the bigger data centres in operation as well as other energy-intensive facilities including cement factories – accounted for 27 per cent of total electricity consumption in the State last year, say recently released Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures.

In line with the growth of the data centre sector here, by this category of user has increased 116 per cent from the end of 2015 to the end of last year.

Data centres alone consumed 18 per cent of total electricity last year and EirGrid has estimated that this could increase to 29 per cent by 2028.

The regulator said the new demand strategy will also focus on ways to support electricity customers to move their consumption to times that will in turn reduce carbon emissions.

Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan said that individual consumers will play a key role in reducing carbon emissions as renewable energy sources account for a larger share of total energy production.

“Crucially, this can happen with householders also becoming active energy consumers by managing their own energy devices, including heat pumps, solar panels, home batteries, smart heating controls or electric vehicle charging points,” the Green Party leader said. “By doing this, they cannot only support the grid but also lower their energy bills and reduce their carbon footprint.”

“As we transform our electricity system to a high renewables, low carbon system, we also need to develop more flexible demand,” said CRU commissioner Aoife MacEvilly in a statement. “The past winter has shown good progress in terms of reducing demand at peak times and a new energy demand strategy is the next foundation piece to this transition. This will provide a clear pathway for increasing the flexibility of all customer groups to moving their demand from times of high demand and carbon intensive generation to times of lower demand and higher renewables sources of generation.”