Shaping Our Electricity Future

Overview

We published the Shaping Our Electricity Future Roadmap Version 1.0 in November 2021. Version 1.0 reflected the climate change policies of Northern Ireland and Ireland at that time, since then things have changed. We have prepared an update to the Roadmap — Shaping Our Electricity Future Version 1.1.

The grid requires unprecedented change in the lead up to 2030. The main objective of this Roadmap is to outline how we can make the grid ready so that 80% of Northern Ireland’s and Ireland's electricity can come from renewable sources, like the wind and sun, by 2030. These targets, and new limits to carbon emissions, are the product of updates to climate change policies in 2022.

To achieve these targets by 2030, more energy from renewable sources needs to be connected to the power system. This means that the electricity grid will need to carry more power from energy sources that vary depending on the weather. This power will also need to be carried over longer distances. As a result, we need to make the grid stronger and more flexible. This Roadmap outlines the changes needed to do that.

To inform this updated Roadmap we engaged with stakeholder groups through a call for inputs from the energy industry and academia in July 2022. This ran for a period of six weeks, and we received 29 responses across Northern Ireland and Ireland.

While this Roadmap is based on what we can do, it also considers how others in the electricity ecosystem can help achieve these targets by 2030.

Shaping Our Electricity Future Roadmap Version 1.1

More publications

Shaping Our Electricity Future Roadmap Version 1.0:

 

We held an industry forum in 2021 to mark the launch of the Version 1.0 Roadmap. This was to inform industry stakeholders about the Roadmap's contents:

Consultation

During 2021 we conducted a comprehensive public consultation, engaging through traditional and innovative methods to make sure all voices were heard. We have now published the findings of this work which maps out our plans to help meet Northern Ireland's renewable targets.

The four approaches in Shaping Our Electricity Future Version 1.0 comprised the following:

  1. Generation-Led: Government policy would influence where renewable energy is generated – favouring locations where the grid is already strong
  2. Developer-Led: In this approach, we continue to connect new sources of renewable electricity as requested in any location
  3. Technology-Led: This approach uses technical solutions to make the grid more resilient so it can better handle the variable nature of renewable energy
  4. Demand-Led: Government policy determines where future large energy users such as big industry and data centres would locate in Northern Ireland

Between Monday 8 March and Monday 14 June, SONI held a series of online workshops, meetings and fora across the country to inform people and gather feedback that will directly influence the final roadmap.

In addition to this, SONI launched a new consultation portal at consult.soni.ltd.uk that hosted the consultation material and acted as an accessible platform for people to submit their views.

Shaping Our Electricity Future Advisory Council

SONI and Eirgrid established the Shaping Our Electricity Future Advisory Council after assessing potential options for facilitating ongoing industry engagement on the issues, challenges and activities set out in the Shaping Our Electricity Future Roadmap.

Click here to view the Open Letter: Establishment of Shaping Our Electricity Future Advisory Council.

Click here to view the Open Letter: Membership in the Shaping Our Electricity Future Advisory Council.

 

 

 

 

 

  • Meeting 8 – May 2024: The presentation from the Advisory Council in May 2024 is available to review here. The minutes are available here.
  • Meeting 7 - Jan 2024: The presentation from the Advisory Council in Jan 2024 is available to review here. The minutes are available here.
  • Meeting 6 – Oct 2023: The presentation from the Advisory Council in Oct 2023 is available to review here. The minutes are available here.
  • Meeting 5 – June 2023: The presentation from the Advisory Council in June 2023 is available to review here. The minutes are available here.
  • Meeting 4 - March 2023: The presentation from the Advisory Council in March 2023 is available to review here. The minutes are available here
  • Meeting 3- January 2023: The presentation from the Advisory Council in January 2023 is available to review here. The minutes are available here.
  • Meeting 2 - September 2022: The presentation from the Advisory Council in September 2022 is available to review here. The minutes are available here.
  • Meeting 1 – May 2022: The presentation from the Advisory Council in May 2022 is available to review here and other materials presented are available here.
  • EirGrid and SONI have drafted this Privacy Notice in an easy and comprehensible way in order to help you understand who we are, what Personal Data we collect about you, why we collect it, and what we do with it during the SOEF engagements. This document also explains your rights in relation to how we hold and use your Personal Data in relation to the SOEF activities of EirGrid, how to exercise those rights, and what to do if more information is required or a complaint is to be made.