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The consultation stems from the Government's Electricity Storage Policy Framework of 2024 which, following a Call for Evidence on long duration electricity storage (LDES) by EirGrid in October 2023, directed the immediate procurement of up to 500MW of LDES capacity by 2030.
Facilitating Ireland's Ambitious Renewable Energy Targets
Electricity generated from renewable sources ranges greatly due to variations in weather. As we look for renewable sources to generate increasing proportions of our electricity, flexibility in the electricity system is essential to ensure that demand is met during "dunkelflaute" (ie in times of low wind and no sunshine) and that excess supply is appropriately accounted for, to avoid overloading the system, in times of favourable weather conditions and resultant high levels of generation. In this context, a 2024 report by energy market analyst Cornwall Insight outlined that Ireland's ambitious climate target of generating 80% of electricity from renewable sources by 2030 was severely impeded by a "policy vacuum" for LDES.
LDES units facilitate better energy management across distribution and transmission networks and are central components of low carbon energy systems. They are different to shorter term battery energy storage systems (BESS), in that their utilisation of a suite of underlying technologies beyond the lithium batteries on which BESS systems are powered enhances their capacity to operate at a larger scale and enables energy storage for over 8 hours (BESS typically storing energy for 1-4 hours), providing greater stability over longer periods. These capabilities are critical to handle the deployment of increasing levels of non-synchronous sources of renewable power (i.e. wind and solar power which only produce power on an intermittent basis) to the electricity grid.
EirGrid's LDES scheme will address this policy vacuum and build on Ireland's Electricity Connection Policy for Generation and System Services (ECP-GSS) published earlier this year (which we reviewed here), which implemented the EU's revised Renewable Energy Directive (RED III) by reducing planning permission requirements for renewable and co-located energy storage projects.
LDES Assets
In the first phase of the LDES scheme, EirGrid proposes to procure a minimum volume of 201MW of commercially proven and "technology neutral" LDES by way of LDES units which meet the following requirements:
- Capable of both importing (from the transmission system for storage) and exporting (to the transmission system for power) at least 4 hours of electricity continuously.
- 75MW minimum capacity for standalone systems and 20MW for co-located or hybrid systems.
- Round Trip Efficiency (ie the efficiency of the import, storage and export of power) of at least 75%.
- Have a grid connection offer accepted and a go live date of 2030.
Weighting
The preference for projects which (i) use existing grid connections (such as hybrid and co-located systems) and (ii) are located in grid constrained areas is evident by the proposed weighting of the award criteria:
- Cost/Revenue Floor Price – 50%.
- Connection method – 30%, with top scores going to projects using existing grid connections.
- Location – 20%, to ensure projects deliver the greatest value to the system and are appropriately sized for their connection points. LDES located in areas with high levels of local grid constraints are particularly valuable in their limitation of dispatch down.
Remuneration
The payment model consists of a minimum revenue floor and revenue sharing when earnings exceed this floor.
LDES developers will be asked to submit an individual revenue floor price, which will be capped following analysis of the levelised cost of storage.
To incentivise participation in the wholesale electricity markets in which LDES assets will be required to participate, EirGrid proposes that a revenue sharing approach will apply to any revenues above the revenue floor in the ratio of 70% for the LDES asset owner and 30% for the TSO.
Details on revenue caps, levelised-cost assumptions and interactions with capacity and flexibility markets will follow in a later phase.
Next Steps
The current consultation closes on 24 November 2025. The CRU is due to issue its procurement mechanism decision in Q1 2026, while an additional consultation on contract and evaluation approach is set for Q2 2026.
It is hoped that winning projects will execute their contracts by the end of 2027.
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