On 30 June 2026, EirGrid and SONI issued a fault-ride-through demand-curtailment procedure capping instantaneous data-centre demand loss at 900 MW, live from July, and warning of imbalance risk above 1,150 MW without mitigation.Source: data-centres update 10

Why is EirGrid warning about a supply shortage in Ireland?

New data-centre applications could require an additional 5.8 GW of capacity, close to Ireland's all-time peak of 6.024 GW. EirGrid's February 2026 assessment found demand will exceed supply at peak across 2026 to 2028.Source: EirGrid

How much of Ireland's electricity do data centres use?

Data centres account for approximately 32% of Ireland's national electricity consumption in 2026, up from 22% in 2024. Dublin campuses alone represent roughly 50% of regional demand.Source: EirGrid All-Island Resource Adequacy Assessment

Background

EirGrid's All-Island Resource Adequacy Assessment, published in February 2026, warned that electricity demand will exceed supply at peak across 2026 to 2028. The warning arrived just as the CRU reopened large-load grid connections under CRU2025236, creating an immediate tension: the regulator is permitting new data centres to connect while the system operator warns the grid cannot absorb them. Data centres now account for 32% of national electricity consumption, up from 22% in 2024, with Dublin campuses representing roughly 50% of regional demand. New data-centre applications could require an additional 5.8 GW of capacity, close to Ireland's all-time peak of 6.024 GW. On 30 June 2026, EirGrid moved from warning to a hard rule: with SONI, its Northern Irish counterpart, it issued a fault-ride-through demand-curtailment procedure setting a 900 MW ceiling on instantaneous data-centre demand loss, live from July, with imbalance risk flagged above 1,150 MW without mitigation.

EirGrid is Ireland's state-owned electricity transmission system operator, founded in 1999 and owned 100% by the Irish state (with a joint mandate covering Northern Ireland), and holds a stake in the UK-Ireland interconnector. It is responsible for planning and operating the high-voltage National Grid, working jointly with SONI on all-island system security, of which the new fault-ride-through procedure is the latest expression. The CRU also required EirGrid and ESB Networks to publish a data centre engagement and connection process by 31 March 2026, but the Deadline was not met, reinforcing the signal that Ireland's grid governance is under severe strain. Operators responded by pursuing behind-the-meter solutions: Pure DC's 110 MW microgrid explicitly bypassed the connection queue.

EirGrid's adequacy warning has become a central reference point in Irish political debate. Labour and the Social Democrats tabled Dail moratorium motions for 18 June, with EirGrid's own data cited to justify the pause. The operator's findings directly contradict the CRU's openness to new connections, exposing a gap at the heart of Irish energy governance. The July fault-ride-through ceiling is the clearest sign yet that EirGrid is managing data-centre growth through hard operational limits rather than policy persuasion alone.