102. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment further to the Commission for Regulation of Utilities' Decision Paper on the Sharing of Maximum Export Capacity behind a Single Connection Point (CRU202643), the engagement his Department has had, or intends to have, with the CRU and the system operators regarding the System Operator Implementation Roadmap for that decision; whether his Department has sought to have the roadmap timeline, currently in excess of 24 months, shortened; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [66632/26]

The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) is responsible for grid connection policy, including hybrid connections. The CRU is an independent regulator, accountable to a Committee of the Oireachtas and not to me as Minister.

Under CAP 23, the CRU are tasked with ensuring that hybrid technology grid connections are facilitated. Currently it is possible to obtain a hybrid connection, for various forms of generation, on the Irish system for a single legal entity at a connection point. The CRU are working to develop policies to remove barriers to facilitate additional hybrid connections and have split this workstream into three parts: Removal of Installed Capacity Cap; Sharing of Maximum Export Capacity (MEC); and Supporting Multiple Legal Entities.

To date this work has included removing the Installed Capacity Cap and the publication of the CRU’s decision paper on Sharing of Maximum Export Capacity. As part of the CRU decision paper the System Operators, EirGrid and ESBN Networks, were tasked with developing a roadmap outlining the steps required to implement MEC sharing. This implementation roadmap was published in June, and work is ongoing to deliver on its programme of activities.

My Department engages with the CRU and system operators on a continuous basis and receives updates on the status of their hybrid connections policy through the Connections Working Group. The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, and electricity system operators, ESB Networks and EirGrid, are also members of the Connections Working Group, which provides coordination and support to the development of relevant policies by their respective responsible organisations. This group reports to the Accelerating Renewable Energy Taskforce.

The matters raised in this question are operational matters for the CRU, EirGrid and ESB Networks. The Deputy may wish to engage directly with those organisations whose respective contact email addresses are oireachtas@cru.ie, oireachtas@eirgrid.com, oireachtas@esb.ie.