From Ireland this week the story is momentum: EirGrid’s first-half figures show the grid setting renewable record after renewable record, while the RESS 6 auction terms finally land — sharpening the pipeline for solar and wind investment into the second half of the year. Across the EU, new ecodesign rules for industrial fans took effect, the Commission clarified Net-Zero Industry Act procurement criteria, and its Oil Coordination Group offered cautious reassurance on supply security following renewed Middle East tensions. In Britain, DESNZ had a busy administrative week on CCUS and emissions-factor updates; and further afield, Ember and Volts both flag infrastructure questions — grid hybridisation and data-centre politics — that have clear parallels for Irish planners and operators.

EPA Ireland · 21 Jul

EPA: 83% of local authorities hit strong or excellent enforcement performance in 2025

The EPA’s 2025 Local Authority Environmental Enforcement Performance Report finds 83% of Ireland’s 31 councils achieved strong or excellent ratings across the 15 National Enforcement Priorities — up 4% on 2024. Three councils (Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Galway City, South Dublin) met every standard; two (Leitrim, Sligo) fell short across multiple priorities. Collectively, authorities carried out 252,000 inspections, handled 85,500 complaints, and initiated 386 prosecutions. The EPA flags a resource imbalance: waste enforcement absorbs 57% of effort, water 34%, while air and noise control receives just 9%.

What it means: For facilities managers, the noise and air-quality gap is worth noting — enforcement resource is thin there for now, but the EPA is signalling it as a priority area, so buildings with ageing ventilation or HVAC that generates noise complaints should not assume the current low scrutiny will persist.

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EirGrid News · 21 Jul

EirGrid: wind, solar, and demand records stack up in first half of 2026

EirGrid’s first-half 2026 review shows Ireland’s grid breaking records across the board. Wind peaked at 3,898 MW in February. Grid-scale solar crossed 1 GW for the first time in April and reached 1,222 MW by late May; solar’s share of the June fuel mix hit 8.2%, up from 5.3% a year earlier. Renewables met roughly half of electricity demand in February, March, and April combined. Electricity demand peaks were also set in January and February.

What it means: A grid running at 50% renewables for three months straight changes the economics of on-site flexibility — smart controls that can shift loads to high-renewable windows are increasingly worth the investment, and the case for demand-response readiness is only getting stronger.

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Energy Storage Ireland · 21 Jul

Energy Storage Ireland hiring a Head to lead strategy on a 10 GW pipeline

Energy Storage Ireland, the NGO representing the storage sector across the island, is recruiting a Head to lead strategy, policy, and stakeholder engagement. Ireland currently has 1.3 GW of operational storage with a 10 GW project pipeline. Applications close 9 August 2026.

What it means: Not directly actionable for most operators, but the scale of that pipeline signals battery storage is moving from niche to infrastructure — which will reshape flexibility options and grid-services pricing for building operators over the next few years.

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Solar Ireland · 24 Jul

RESS 6 terms published — technology pots, non-price criteria, and a December results date

The Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment has published final Terms and Conditions for RESS 6, Ireland’s sixth renewable electricity auction. The design introduces separate pots for solar and onshore wind, with bids scored 85% on price, 5% on resilience, and 10% on energy system integration — the first RESS round to apply non-price criteria required under the EU Net-Zero Industry Act. Solar projects carry an 11% capacity factor. The qualification window opens 30 July, with award notices due 10 December 2026. Solar Ireland also profiled Niamh Igoe of GP JOULE Ireland, whose planning work secured consent for Blackhall Solar Farm and who is calling for broader utility-scale and rooftop solar expansion alongside battery storage.

What it means: For organisations exploring on-site solar or PPA arrangements, RESS 6 results in December will set benchmark pricing for the next generation of projects — worth tracking even if you are not bidding directly.

Sources:

European Commission, DG Energy

Brussels: fan ecodesign rules live, Net-Zero Act guidance, EPREL upgraded, oil monitored, renewables at 26%

Brussels had a full week. From 24 July, new EU ecodesign rules apply to industrial fans (125 W–500 kW), setting higher efficiency thresholds and mandatory repairability requirements — the Commission projects €4 billion in annual savings by 2030 and 31 TWh saved EU-wide. Alongside that, the Commission published implementation guidance on the Net-Zero Industry Act’s non-price criteria for public procurement and renewable auctions, clarifying resilience scoring and supply-chain origin rules now reflected in RESS 6. EPREL, the EU’s energy-label product registry, gained a comparison tool across its 2 million registered appliances. On supply security, the Oil Coordination Group confirmed no immediate shortfalls despite Middle East tensions and a Strait of Hormuz blockade, though it flagged that a prolonged conflict could tighten markets. Eurostat confirmed renewables reached 26.2% of EU gross final energy consumption in 2025, up from 25.2%, against a 42.5% target for 2030. The Commission also launched the second round of the EU Hydrogen Mechanism, inviting registration from infrastructure operators ahead of a 7 September deadline.

What it means: The industrial fan rules are the most immediately practical: if your building uses large ventilation or process fans covered by the regulation, new procurement must now meet the higher efficiency standard and suppliers must provide repairability information — factor that into any upcoming HVAC or ventilation upgrade specification.

Sources:

UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

DESNZ: CCUS business model updates, UK ETS emission factors, and offshore energy SEA

DESNZ published updated guidance on its CCUS business models — Industrial Carbon Capture, Waste ICC, and a Dispatchable Power Agreement — introducing a new Transition Access Agreement for less capital-intensive projects and moving toward market-based carbon pricing for industrial capture, targeting 20–30 MtCO₂ captured annually by 2030. The department also released updated UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory emission factors and calorific values for 2026, the authorised default figures for UK ETS monitoring and reporting. Separately, DESNZ published an overview of the Offshore Energy Strategic Environmental Assessment process, with the OESEA5 Environmental Report planned for later this year covering future offshore wind, wave, tidal, hydrogen, and CO₂ storage leasing. The week also included routine workforce transparency data, IPCC contribution guidance, and a Warm Homes Loan Scheme privacy notice.

What it means: None of this binds Irish operators directly, but the CCUS business model evolution — particularly the shift toward market carbon pricing — is the template the EU and Ireland tend to follow as ETS2 beds in, so hard-to-abate sectors should keep an eye on how the UK Track-1 projects perform.

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Carbon Brief · 20–24 Jul

Carbon Brief: EU ETS reform explained — and a heatwave factcheck

Carbon Brief’s most policy-relevant piece this week is its Q&A on the European Commission’s July 2026 ETS reform proposal. Key changes include extending free allowances to 2038 (conditional on decarbonisation investment plans), slowing annual emissions cap reductions from 2031 onward, expanding aviation and maritime coverage, and integrating permanent carbon removals. The Commission says the package aligns with its 90% emissions-reduction target for 2040; campaigners warn the slower cap trajectory could allow 1–2 billion extra tonnes of CO₂. Ireland holds the EU Council presidency and is aiming for agreement by end-2026. Carbon Brief also fact-checked claims circulating in British media that Europe’s heatwaves are caused by declining air pollution rather than greenhouse-gas warming — the short answer is no.

What it means: The ETS reform matters for any Irish organisation in or approaching the EU ETS: slower cap reduction from 2031 buys a little more time on the compliance curve, but the free-allowance conditions mean decarbonisation investment plans will need to be credible and documented — not a box-ticking exercise.

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Ember · 21 Jul

Ember: 25 GW of renewables can piggyback on EU hydro grid connections — no new wires needed

Ember’s analysis finds that hybridising existing hydropower plants — connecting co-located wind or solar to the same grid connection point — could accommodate 25 GW of new renewable capacity across seven major EU countries without any grid expansion. Hydropower plants currently run at roughly 19% of their connection capacity, leaving substantial headroom. The 25 GW figure represents 18% of planned 2026–2030 renewable additions in the countries studied. Ember flags that only Portugal and Spain have dedicated regulatory frameworks for hybrid projects, and recommends EU-wide permitting guidance to unlock deployment.

What it means: Not a direct action item for most Irish operators, but the hybridisation principle — squeezing more generation through existing grid connections before building new ones — applies equally to on-site solar and storage: a well-sized battery behind an existing meter is often faster and cheaper than a new grid application.

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Volts (David Roberts) · 20 Jul

Volts: the data-centre backlash — 120 moratoriums, $130 billion blocked, lessons for grid planning

A crossover episode between Volts and Energy Empire digs into the wave of data-centre moratoriums sweeping the US: more than 120 across 38 states, blocking an estimated $130 billion in projects. The hosts trace the backlash to hyperscaler PR failures, low public trust, utilities’ spend-to-earn incentive structures that favour grid expansion over efficiency, and state governments caught between economic development and energy-system stress. Their prescription: developers should fund local community benefits — batteries, solar, schools — at minimal project cost, while states need better long-term energy planning capacity. NERC’s May 2026 reliability alert on data-centre load shedding gets a mention.

What it means: Ireland is not the US, but the dynamic is recognisable — data-centre load growth is already a live grid-planning tension here, and the community-benefit and demand-flexibility arguments being made stateside will increasingly surface in Irish planning and CRU conversations.

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The RESS 6 qualification window opens 30 July — if you have a solar project or a PPA decision in the pipeline, the auction timetable is now live and December results will set the market tone for the year ahead.