News Update

New Commissioner

Dr. Tanya Harrington has been appointed as our new Commissioner and will take up her role in September. Dr. Harrington previously worked as Chief Regulatory Officer with An Post and holds a BA in German and History from University College Dublin. She also has an MSc. in European Integration and a Doctorate in Governance focused on accountability and institutional design for cross-jurisdictional regulatory governance, both degrees awarded by Queen’s University Belfast.

CRU Review of Uisce Éireann’s Proposed Water Supply Project

We published our final Review Report of the Water Supply Project. The Uisce Éireann Irish Water proposed project will abstract water from the lower River Shannon at Parteen Basin in Co. Tipperary, downstream of Lough Derg with water treatment at Birdhill. Treated water will be piped 170km through Tipperary, Offaly and Kildare to a termination point reservoir at Peamount in County Dublin, connecting into the Greater Dublin Area water supply network with capacity to provide water to communities along the route. The Final Review Report outlines the CRU’s advice to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage that the project does meet the requirements of PSC Review 1 and can proceed to the next decision gate.

DSO Demand Flexibility Product Procurement

We issued our decision paper on the ESB Networks DAC Demand Flexibility Product Procurement Recommendation, following a consultation earlier this year. In this decision, we approved ESB Networks recommendation to procure up to 500 MW of medium-term flexibility products. This decision marks a pivotal action by ESB Networks in contributing to strategic targets in the Climate Action Plan and represents some of the earliest delivery of objectives in the National Energy Demand Strategy.

National Energy Demand Strategy

We published our next steps for the development of the National Energy Demand Strategy, including an implementation of actions to address the forecasted growth in Ireland’s energy demand over the next decade.

The strategy outlines actions which will enable customers to bring greater flexibility to their energy consumption. This will contribute to increased decarbonisation, enhanced security of supply, and lower system costs by incentivising greater flexibility and decarbonisation of electricity usage by all customer groups in Ireland’s growing economy. It will also support the delivery of Ireland’s transition to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

The implementation phase (2024 – 2026) will focus on incentivising the uptake and diversity of flexibility for all energy consumers through appropriate policies, market and standards, as well as enabling products and technologies, such as the recent CRU decision to approve the request by ESBN to procure up to 500MW of medium-term flexibility products.

Gas Networks Ireland Development Plan

We published Gas Networks Ireland's Network Development Plan 2023, this covers a ten-year period from 2022 to 2023. It examines current gas demand and supply projections and provides a view of how the gas network may be required to develop to meet these projections over the coming ten-year period. The document follows a process of engagement and consultation, both internally and through informal consultation with key industry stakeholders.

Public Service Obligation Levy

We published a decision on the calculations for the Public Service Obligation (PSO) Levy for October 2024 to 30 September 2025.

Following a review, a levy of €251.79 million will be required for the 2024/25 PSO year. The increased funding was a result of the inverse relationship between the PSO and the wholesale electricity price. When wholesale electricity prices are lower, renewable generators which do not require gas receive lower revenues for the electricity they sell in the wholesale market.

The levy is an important factor in enabling Ireland to meet its national targets in the generation of electricity from renewables. For the upcoming PSO Year 2024/25, it is estimated that increased support will be required from the PSO for renewable generation under the older REFIT renewables support scheme and the newer RESS support scheme.

Recruitment

We have launched our new graduate recruitment programme. We are seeking high achieving graduates to join the CRU to gain experience, and play a role in the future of the energy and water sectors in Ireland. We are hiring for graduates across various disciplines including economics, engineering, business and law.

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