Ireland: Energy Law

This Q3 2026 edition highlights key legal and regulatory developments shaping Ireland's sustainability landscape, covering energy, infrastructure, and sustainable finance. The newsletter features insights from Climate Finance Week 2026 and explores legislative priorities for Europe's energy future during Ireland's EU Presidency.

The Commission for Regulation of Utilities has approved Grid Code modification MPID 345, introducing fault ride through, RoCoF and active power recovery requirements for transmission-connected demand facilities. Customers unable to comply must navigate a new Compliance and Derogation Framework, with data centres facing Demand Utilisation Thresholds that effectively limit their Maximum Import Capacity.

Matheson's quarterly construction bulletin examines recent developments in Ireland's construction and infrastructure sectors, including the introduction of a simplified Building Energy Rating scale, the practical implications of force majeure clauses amid global conflicts, and key court decisions on construction contract amendments.

Ireland's system operators have published a roadmap for implementing hybrid co-located renewable energy sites with shared maximum export capacity, following regulatory approval in April 2024.

Ireland's Commission for Regulation of Utilities has published a groundbreaking decision allowing Maximum Export Capacity to be dynamically shared between multiple generation and storage technologies at a single...

The European Commission has unveiled AccelerateEU, a comprehensive energy strategy built on five pillars to address the ongoing energy crisis through enhanced coordination, consumer protection, clean energy acceleration, infrastructure strengthening, and investment mobilization. Key legislative proposals include network charge reforms, an ambitious Electrification Action Plan with fossil fuel subsidy phase-outs, and an ETS Investment Booster targeting €100 billion for industrial decarbonisation.

The Government published a Critical Infrastructure Bill 2026 and Circulars, following on from the Accelerating Infrastructure Action Plan.

On 1 April 2026, the High Court upheld the Commission’s grant of permission to Shannon LNG Limited in a challenge taken by Friends of the Irish Environment.

In Friends of the Irish Environment CLG v An Coimisiún Pleanála [2026] IEHC 205, Humphreys J dismissed a challenge to a decision of An Coimisiún Pleanála (Commission) to approve a 600 MW...