From Ireland this week the story is infrastructure and supply security: EirGrid unveiled its most ambitious grid strategy yet — €18.9bn and 381 transmission projects over five years — while CRU moved to manage the gas-network pressure being put on it by data centres and generators, opening a consultation on mandatory interruptible connections for large new industrial customers. Across the EU, the Commission was active on labelling reform, the Electrify Now initiative, and Middle East oil-market monitoring. In Britain, the Climate Change Committee and a raft of DESNZ statistics dominated the week; and further afield, analysis from Ember, the EIA, and Carbon Brief rounded out a week heavy on the long-run direction of travel for electricity systems.

CRU Consultations · 25 Jun

CRU proposes mandatory interruptible gas connections for large new industrial customers

CRU has opened a consultation on a proposed Direction that would require new industrial gas customers with peak demand above 50 MWth — think large data centres and electricity generators — to take interruptible capacity products rather than firm connections, at least until Gas Networks Ireland completes planned network reinforcements. The measure targets security of supply: rapid growth in high-demand customers is straining the gas transmission network, and interruptible products give GNI an emergency curtailment lever. Domestic and non-domestic statutory connection rights are unaffected. Responses are due 5 August 2026.

What it means: This doesn’t touch most SME or commercial operators directly, but it signals how seriously CRU is taking grid stress from large energy consumers — and it’s a reminder that gas supply assumptions built into any long-range energy plan should be stress-tested. If you’re advising a client with significant gas-fired plant or are in a shared energy network with large industrial neighbours, it’s worth a read.

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EPA Ireland · 24 Jun

EPA: radon awareness falling — fewer than half of at-risk people likely to test

A national survey carried out in December 2025 found that public awareness of radon has dropped from 82% in 2020 to 71% in 2025, with more than half of respondents unaware that radon exposure is a leading cause of lung cancer after smoking. Fewer than half of those who are aware of radon say they’re likely to test their home. The EPA is concerned about the reluctance to act and plans to strengthen its outreach under the National Radon Control Strategy.

What it means: For school principals and facilities managers responsible for older buildings — particularly in high-radon areas across the midlands, west, and south — this is a useful nudge to check whether a radon test has been done recently and whether results are on file. It’s a low-cost action with real health and liability implications.

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EirGrid News

EirGrid’s €18.9bn strategy: 381 transmission projects, 9 GW onshore and 5 GW offshore wind by 2031

Launched in Cork by Minister Timmy Dooley, EirGrid’s Group Strategy 2026 sets out the most ambitious grid investment programme in the state’s history: €18.9bn across 381 transmission projects over five years, with the goal of delivering 80% renewable electricity. The four pillars are system reliability, infrastructure delivery at scale, higher renewable penetration, and offshore wind and interconnection. Key anchors include the 575km Celtic Interconnector to France and major offshore transmission upgrades on the south and east coasts. EirGrid’s workforce will grow from 1,500 to over 2,000, and a new offshore infrastructure unit will be established to manage the offshore programme.

What it means: For Irish operators, the headline implication is that the grid is being rebuilt around cheap renewable electricity — which is the right direction, but the journey will see continued price volatility as old gas-heavy dispatch patterns phase out. The stronger the grid and interconnector capacity, the more stable and lower prices should eventually become; in the meantime, demand-side flexibility and on-site efficiency remain the practical hedge.

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Wind Energy Ireland Blog

Wind at 37% of Irish generation year-to-date, but May prices hit €144/MWh as gas dependency bites

Wind Energy Ireland’s May 2026 report shows wind farms generated 960 GWh — 29% of Irish electricity demand in May — with wind accounting for 37% of all generation in 2026 to date. But the price picture is stark: wholesale electricity averaged €144.52/MWh in May, up 10.2% on April. The gas-dependency effect is clearly visible in the data: on high-wind days prices fell to €117/MWh; on low-wind days reliant on gas imports, they rose to €178/MWh — a €61/MWh swing. Kerry led county-level generation at 106 GWh. Alongside the price report, SSE-Greencoat Renewables published details of a peatland restoration programme at Galway Wind Park: 120 hectares of degraded bog are being rehabilitated in collaboration with the University of Galway under the EU LIFE Multi-Peat programme, with tree felling and drain-blocking now 50% complete.

What it means: The €61/MWh wind premium is the clearest argument yet for reducing your dependency on grid electricity during low-wind periods — whether through demand scheduling, on-site generation, or building-level efficiency that trims your peak demand. The peatland story won’t affect your bills, but it speaks to how renewable developers are managing community and environmental obligations that regulators will increasingly expect.

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European Commission, DG Energy

Electrify Now launched, labelling reform proposed, oil markets monitored, and PCI hydrogen call opens

DG Energy had a full week. The Commission proposed simplified energy and tyre labelling rules to make product performance information more accessible to consumers and retailers across the EU. At London Climate Action Week, the Commission co-launched Electrify Now — a global platform targeting 35% electrification of final energy demand by 2035, backed by the EU, UK, Brazil, Australia, Canada, IEA, and IRENA — and jointly welcomed the UN Secretary-General’s call to accelerate the Global Methane Pledge, which targets a 30% cut in global methane by 2030 from 2020 levels. Separately, the Oil Coordination Group met to assess EU supply security in the wake of US-Iran negotiations and Strait of Hormuz disruption, noting that jet-fuel markets have proved resilient but that crude supply normalisation will take time. Finally, the Commission opened a call for hydrogen, electrolyser, and CO2 infrastructure projects under the TEN-E Regulation, with applications open until 30 September 2026.

What it means: For Irish operators, Electrify Now is the one to bookmark — it aligns directly with the direction Ireland’s SEAI grant programmes and EPBD compliance pathways are heading, and the EU’s public framing of electrification as a bills-reduction measure (not just a climate measure) gives political cover for the building investments your organisation will need to make in the next five years.

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UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

DESNZ: Warm Homes Plan, SHDF and GBIS statistics, and an industrial electrification model refresh

In Britain it was a heavy statistics week for DESNZ. Minister Martin McCluskey outlined the £15bn Warm Homes Plan at Housing 2026, targeting 5 million home upgrades by 2030 through insulation, heat pumps, solar, and batteries — with £5bn for fuel-poor households, a doubled Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant (up to £9,000 for oil-heat users), and EPC C as the standard for rented homes by 2030. Official statistics showed the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund has delivered 149,400 efficiency measures across 68,600 households, with nearly all reaching EPC C or above; the Great British Insulation Scheme reached 100,900 homes but saw installation rates fall 30% month-on-month in March 2026. Separately, DESNZ published a major refresh of its industrial electrification cost model (COMIT), covering 321 technologies across 16 sectors — finding high electrification potential in food & drink and mechanical engineering, with cement and refineries at the low end.

What it means: None of this directly binds Irish operators, but the GBIS slowdown is a useful caution: scheme uptake can plateau if delivery pipelines aren’t maintained. The COMIT industrial-electrification model is worth noting for engineers or facilities managers in food production and light manufacturing — Ireland tends to adapt similar frameworks through SEAI, and understanding where the UK’s evidence base is heading can inform your own capital-planning conversations now.

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UK Climate Change Committee

CCC: electrification too slow, heat-pump homes saved 75% less on bills, Seventh Carbon Budget now law

The UK Climate Change Committee’s annual progress report landed with a clear message: the pace of electrification is too slow, and it’s costing households money. UK emissions fell 1.8% in 2025, keeping carbon budgets 4 and 5 within reach, but heat-pump installations in existing homes grew just 7% — down sharply from 56% previously — and industrial electrification has stalled. The CCC’s own analysis shows that households with heat pumps and EVs have seen bills rise three-quarters less since 2023 than those still on gas and petrol, and that a typical household adding solar plus a time-of-use tariff could save £1,200–£1,900 a year. Separately, Parliament passed the Seventh Carbon Budget into law this week, setting a legally binding 87% emissions-reduction target for 2038–42.

What it means: The bills-savings framing from the CCC — rather than just the climate framing — is the shift worth watching for Irish operators. When the UK’s most authoritative climate body leads with ‘£1,200 savings per household’, it accelerates the political case for Irish equivalents. Expect SEAI and the Department to draw on this evidence as they make the case for accelerating heat-pump and building-controls investment on this side of the Irish Sea.

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Carbon Brief

Carbon Brief: IPCC modelling debate, China’s five-year plan, US renewables, and Colombia’s reversal

Carbon Brief covered a lot of ground this week. In an extended interview, Prof Detlef van Vuuren — the world’s most-cited IPCC scientist — defended high-emissions scenarios as legitimate planning tools and flagged AI’s growing role in climate research. A separate interview with Prof Philippe Ciais raised scepticism about large-scale carbon-dioxide removal and highlighted gaps in global carbon-cycle measurement. China’s 15th five-year plan set a 30% clean-energy target for power generation by 2030 alongside a three-year industrial decarbonisation action plan targeting nine heavy sectors, projected to cut 200 million tonnes of CO2 annually. A University of Maryland guest post found that despite federal policy headwinds in the US, solar and wind accounted for over 90% of new electricity capacity in 2025. Finally, a Q&A examined Colombia’s political shift, where a newly elected hard-right government has reversed the previous administration’s fossil-fuel transition stance — a setback for the Santa Marta process, with co-hosting implications for the 2027 summit Ireland is involved in.

What it means: The Colombia piece has a small Irish angle: Ireland is listed as co-host of the 2027 Santa Marta follow-up summit, so the political uncertainty there is worth watching if your organisation has sustainability commitments that reference international frameworks. More immediately, China’s industrial decarbonisation plan is reshaping global supply chains for energy technology — with downstream implications for equipment lead times and pricing that Irish procurement teams should factor into capital project timelines.

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US EIA — Today in Energy · 26 Jun

New York grid shows the ‘duck curve’ in action as rooftop solar reshapes daily demand

EIA analysis of the New York ISO shows a classic duck-curve effect taking hold: midday grid demand has dropped sharply as 5.6 GW of solar capacity (roughly half of it small-scale rooftop) has been added since 2018. Morning demand is now running nearly 1,800 MW lower than it did in 2018; evening ramp-up has surged by over 1,500 MW as solar drops off. The effect peaks in March and April. Grid operators must now ramp conventional generation faster to follow the evening demand spike — a challenge that batteries and demand-response programmes are increasingly being asked to solve.

What it means: Ireland isn’t New York, but this is the direction of travel as solar penetration grows here too — and it’s a practical reminder that time-of-use tariff design and demand flexibility will matter increasingly for commercial operators. Buildings that can shift discretionary loads (HVAC pre-conditioning, EV charging, water heating) away from evening peaks are the ones best placed as tariffs evolve.

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Volts (David Roberts) · 24 Jun

The air-conditioner testing gap: how test standards are masking cooling inefficiency

David Roberts interviews RMI’s Ankit Kalanki on a largely invisible lever for reducing global cooling emissions: air-conditioner testing standards. Current protocols don’t reflect real-world operating conditions, which means manufacturers can optimise for the test rather than actual efficiency. Revising test standards could drive the market toward more efficient designs without requiring new mandates — the regulatory equivalent of fixing the measuring stick.

What it means: For facilities managers specifying new cooling equipment, this is a useful heads-up: the efficiency rating on the datasheet may not reflect what you’ll actually see in the building. It’s worth asking suppliers for independent or real-world performance data, especially as cooling loads rise with warmer Irish summers.

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Ember

UK solar homes self-powered through June heatwave; Pakistan’s distributed solar transformation

During the June 2026 heatwave — coinciding with the summer solstice — Ember found that UK homes with rooftop solar generated the equivalent of over five hours of daily air-conditioning electricity, totalling 10 million solar-powered cooling hours per day across 1.9 million solar homes. UK solar deployment has been running at over 2.5 GW per year since 2024. In a separate report, Ember and Renewables First documented a remarkable energy system shift in Pakistan: distributed solar tripled from 15 TWh to 51 TWh in just two years (FY23–FY25), meeting all of the country’s 21% electricity demand growth. Pakistan now has 38 GW of distributed solar — equivalent to all its fossil-fuel generation ever built — with residential, industrial, and agricultural sectors all driving deployment.

What it means: The UK heatwave story is a practical data point for Irish operators thinking about cooling costs: on-site solar’s value is highest precisely when demand — and grid prices — peak. As Irish summers warm and cooling loads grow, the economics of pairing rooftop solar with smart building controls become more compelling year on year.

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Inside Climate News

Plug-in solar goes mainstream, US Democrats retreat on climate language, and a book on burnout

Inside Climate News covered three distinct stories this week. First, an exploration of the ‘guerrilla solar’ phenomenon — plug-in rooftop solar units costing $500–$1,000 that connect to standard outlets — now legal in nine US states and already mainstream in Germany, where roughly 1 million systems are installed. Payback ranges from 4.3 years in Berlin to 10–15 years in lower-electricity-cost markets. Second, an analysis of US congressional Democrats’ ‘climate hushing’ — a sharp retreat from climate language in favour of energy-affordability messaging since early 2026, contested by climate advocates who argue it demobilises voters. Third, an interview with author Katharine Wilkinson on her new book addressing emotional burnout in the climate movement and the need for community infrastructure to sustain long-term engagement.

What it means: The plug-in solar piece is the most practically relevant for Irish operators: as electricity prices stay elevated and SEAI grant eligibility expands, accessible low-barrier solar products could become a useful entry point for smaller premises where a full rooftop system isn’t yet viable. The US political framing story is a reminder that energy affordability — not just sustainability credentials — is increasingly the argument that lands with decision-makers across all markets.

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The practical thread running through this week’s digest is one Irish operators keep encountering: the €61/MWh price gap between high-wind and low-wind days is the market’s clearest signal yet that reducing your exposure to gas-priced grid electricity — through efficiency, flexibility, or on-site generation — is now a financial strategy, not just a sustainability one.