Kildare-Meath Grid Upgrade

This page shows you information on this project's activity, with more recent news first.

April

Planning Application

EirGrid, the operator and developer of the national electricity grid, has submitted a Strategic infrastructure Development planning application to An Bord Pleanála for the Kildare-Meath grid upgrade.

The application was submitted following extensive technical assessments, consultations and engagement with local communities, as well as with Kildare and Meath County Councils, and other stakeholders.

Subject to planning approval, the project will move into the construction phase in 2025.

Download the PDF:

Summary of engagement with public and stakeholders

Forum Meeting

The second forum meeting of the year was held, in person. This meeting involved MaRei (Research partners) providing updates and a workshop on their role in the forum, which will support EirGrid’s community engagement policy in relation to climate action, based on scientific evidence and insights on around the best ways to work with communities towards the achievement of a fair and just energy transition.  

The forum facilitator then ran a workshop on Sustainable Development Goals.

Download the PDF:

Minutes of April Community Forum Meeting

January

The forum held its first meeting of 2023 online, a meeting which included project updates

Download the PDF:

Minutes of January Community Forum Meeting

Ground Investigations - from mid-August until the end of October

Following the announcement of the Best Performing Option in June 2022, EirGrid has been preparing for Ground Investigations along the route.  These works are required to determine the presence of underground services, to identify the ground conditions, and to help design the layout and location of the proposed cable.    

The Ground Investigations will be undertaken by an experienced contractor, who will be supervised by EirGrid and their specialist engineering partners. The proposed Ground Investigations will take place in both on and off-road locations where the Best Performing Route is proposed. The works will be completed under licence from Meath and Kildare County Councils and in consultation with key stakeholders like TII, Waterways Ireland, and Irish Rail. 

All off-road works will be discussed in detailed with the affected landowners. EirGrid will work with the landowners to minimise damage to the land and will repair agricultural land where it is needed. 

The on-road works may require some lane closures and where roads are particularly narrow a full road closure will be required. A full traffic management plan has been prepared and will be reviewed by Meath and Kildare County Councils. This will mean temporary traffic lights or stop/go system being used similar to other utility companies. The works will be planned to minimise disruption to commuters, to maintain access to homes and businesses, and ensure access for emergency vehicles. 

We apologise in advance for any disruption and we appreciate your understanding. These Ground Investigations are a necessary part of the project, which is required in order  to supply more green energy across Ireland, and to ensure reliable electricity supply in Meath, Kildare and beyond.  

For further information please contact your local Agricultural Liaison Officers John Boylan 087 255 6697 or Liam Wynne 087 226 1804 or email KildareMeath@eirgrid.com

EirGrid identifies best performing route option

Following technical assessments and extensive public consultation, the project team has made refinements to the route announced in March in order to identify the best performing route option, and to identify where exactly the cable will be located.

The best performing route will avoid villages and the town centres of Kilcock, Clane, Prosperous and Sallins and will cross motorways, railways, canals and rivers.

There have been refinements to the route following further engagement with stakeholders which has resulted in an increase of cable length from approximately 51km to 53km, with an off-road section of 8km. See route map here.

While the route is longer, these changes will minimise effects to some landowners and communities and reduce the need for road closures.

Information days

As part of ongoing public engagement, we will hold six information days to discuss the Kildare-Meath Grid Upgrade and the emerging best performing option.

The public information days will take place on:

• March 29 – The Grange, Sallins
• March 30 - Kilcock GAA Club
• March 31 - Two Mile House GAA Club

And the following week on:

• April 5 - Batterstown GAA Club
• April 6 - Naas Sports Centre
• April 7 - Prosperous Parish Centre

The team will be available from 11am to 5pm each day to answer any of your questions and to receive feedback about the emerging best performing route option.

EirGrid identifies emerging best performing route option for Kildare-Meath Grid Upgrade

Following feedback gathered during an extensive public consultation process and a range of assessments evaluating the four possible route options for the Kildare-Meath Grid Upgrade, Option A (the Red Option) has been identified as the emerging best performing route option.

EirGrid is now in a position to confirm the emerging best performing option (EBPO) for the Kildare-Meath Grid Upgrade and has published a full evaluation report on this outcome.

The route, which is the most westerly of the four options, is approximately 51km in length, with an estimated off-road section of six kilometres.

It travels south from Woodland substation, near Batterstown in Meath to Dunstown substation near Two Mile House in Kildare.

Over the coming weeks the project team will carry out further technical and environmental evaluations while continuing to meet and engage with landowners, community, business and statutory stakeholders. This will inform the final route which we anticipate announcing in June, 2022.

The Emerging Best Performing Route Option map

Full detail of the best performing route option available here.

31 August 2021 - Consultation on Draft Route Options - Have your Say!

08 June 2021 - Kildare Meath Grid Upgrade Community Forum

09 April 2021

EirGrid has selected an underground cable option for a critical, new electricity project that will reinforce the network across Kildare and Meath. Following extensive local engagement and a multi criteria assessment, the Kildare-Meath Grid Upgrade project team has selected a single 400 kilovolt (kV) underground cable as the best performing option from a shortlist of overhead and underground technologies that were put forward for public consultation last year. This option will now progress to the next step in the process where we will explore where exactly we will build the new underground cable. We will consult with stakeholders, partners and the public before any decisions on a route are made. You can read the full update here.

16th November: Launch of Virtual Exhibition Space

EirGrid has launched a virtual exhibition to provide further opportunities for the public to learn more about the Kildare-Meath Grid Upgrade project, a new scheme that will reinforce the electricity network across Kildare and Meath.

Our team has been making every possible effort to connect and engage with the public over the past four months. The new virtual exhibition space provides another means for people to learn about the options we are considering and give us their view as we head into the remaining four weeks of this consultation.

The virtual exhibition space presents information in a way that would normally be done if we were to hold our open days in a local community centre. Members of the public can also use the virtual exhibit to arrange a call back with our community and agricultural liaison officers.

Click here to access the virtual exhibition. The public consultation runs until December 14^th.

 

6th October 2020: Consultation - Have your say!

We are calling on communities to have their say on the 5 options which are being considered for the Kildare-Meath Grid Upgrade.

Click here to fill out the online questionnaire.

We held webinars in October, they are available to view here:

• 12.30pm, 22 October 2020: https://youtu.be/lghdA-8Krb0
• 7pm, 22 October 2020: https://youtu.be/heXXHSOjLWQ

The options

We have identified the upgrading of an existing line 220 kV overhead line to 400 kV as the emerging best performing option (option 1). A 400 kV underground cable has been identified as the emerging best performing alternative (option 4). However, before making a decision, we want to know what communities think of all the options and which one they would prefer. The project brochure provides more detail.

Find out more

The consultation is open until Monday 14 December 2020. The public can give their feedback through an online questionnaire, by email to KildareMEath@eirgrid.com, or by freepost to Kildare-MEath Grid Upgrade Consultation, EirGrid plc, Freepost FDN 5312, 160 Shelbourne Road, Ballsbridge, D04, FW28. Households within the study area of the project will receive a questionnaire in the post by the end of October.

COVID-19

The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic presents challenges to us in how we engage with people due to public health restrictions. We actively review guidelines to ensure we align our enagagement activity and minimise risk. To addess this, we are providing a mix of traditional and innovative, online methods for anyone interested in the project to provide feedback to us. We will post additional notices on this page about our engagement activity as the consultation phase progresses.

Talk to us

You can contact our Community Liaison Team to talk about this project or request that project information is sent to you by post or email.

Community Liaison Officer – Gráinne Duffy

Telephone: 085 887 4798

Community Liaison Officer – Eoghan O’Sullivan

Telephone: 087 247 7732

Email the team

KildareMeath@eirgrid.com

13th August 2020: Information Webinars

We are hosting online information webinars about the Kildare Meath Grid Upgrade project on the 26^th and 27^th of August. The webinars are open to anyone in Kildare and Meath who wants to find out more about the project.

The webinars will focus on:

• Introducing and informing attendees about the project and what is happening now.
• Providing an overview of the new project microsite and how stakeholders can use the interactive maps.
• Answering your questions on the project.

The registration details are below and pre-registration is required.

Register to attend on Wednesday August 26: 12.30 – 1.30pm

Registration for this webinar is now closed. The webinar can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/X0_Vn60SHm8

Register to attend on Thursday August 27: 7pm – 8pm

Registration for this webinar is now closed. The webinar can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/brXLRUy4KDU

 

4th August 2020 (Updated 7th August 2020): Cancelled: Come and meet us

Due to local restrictions announced by Government on 7th August 2020, all Mobile Information Unit activity for the Kildare-Meath Grid Upgrade has been cancelled until further notice. We will continue to keep this web page updated.

Further information about the Kildare-Meath Grid Upgrade is available in the project brochure, the project micro-website with interactive maps, and the documents section. You can also contact our Community Liaison Team. See their contact details below:

Community Liaison Officer – Gráinne Duffy

Telephone: 085 887 4798

Community Liaison Officer – Eoghan O’Sullivan

Telephone: 087 247 7732

Email the team

KildareMeath@eirgrid.com

In advance of our public consultation, which will run between September and November, we have launched an information campaign to raise awareness of the Kildare-Meath Grid Upgrade project and the options we are currently investigating. The information campaign includes publishing a project brochure, developing a project micro-website with interactive maps, and publishing various studies we have completed to date with associated documents.

In Step 3, we have re-confirmed the need for this project. We have also been investigating the shortlisted options to strengthen the electricity network between Dunstown and Woodland. The shortlist we have been working on is as follows:

1. Connect two existing 220 kV overhead lines and up-voltage to 400kV;

2. Build a 400 kV overhead line;

3. Build a 220 kV underground cable;

4. Build a 400 kV underground cable.

As we investigated option 4, we identified that the cable would perform differently depending on its construction (if this option was chosen). So we split this option into two separate options:

4a. Build a new single conductor 400 kV underground cable in one route;

4b. Build a new 400 kV underground cable using two new conductors in two separate routes.

This step will not identify where we will build electricity infrastructure. This will be done in Step 4.

Come and meet us

In advance of our public consultation, which will run between September and November, our Mobile Information Unit will be visiting Kildare and Meath in August and we’ll be happy to answer your questions. Social distancing measures will, of course, be in place and you’ll find all the dates, times and locations on this web page.

The project is in Step Three of our six-step process for developing the grid and engaging with stakeholders. Find out more about our six-step process and how you can influence our plans in our Have Your Say brochure.

In Step One of the process we identified and confirmed the need for Capital Project 966. In Step Two we identified a shortlist of best-performing technical solutions. This short list was out for public consultation between November 2018 and February 2019.  Three technologies and four solution options were subsequently taken forward to Step Three in April 2019.

In Step Three we have been conducting further detailed investigation and evaluation of the shortlisted solutions. As part of Step Three of this process, we will be seeking feedback on the information that we have gathered for the solutions to include in our evaluations. All of the solutions are being investigated against five criteria namely, technical, economic, deliverability, environmental and socio-economic.

We are currently planning an engagement and consultation phase and are expecting this to take place in Quarter 3 and Quarter 4 2020.

We will publish more information in due course.

The 10-week consultation period closed on Monday 04 February 2019. No technology options were removed or added as a result of the consultation. Most of the responses declared a preference for either the underground option or the uprate option.

The five options in the refined solution list were further evaluated using five criteria. The criteria involved technical performance, economic performance, environmental, deliverability and socio-economic considerations. The multi-criteria evaluation resulted in the removal of one of the solutions from the list. This was the new 220 kV overhead line option which performed less favourably than the other solutions.

The project has now completed Step Two of our six-step process for developing electricity transmission projects. The aim of Step Two was to create a shortlist of best-performing technical solutions that would be taken forward for further detailed investigation and evaluation.

The shortlist of solutions to be evaluated in Step Three are:

1. Dunstown – Woodland - Uprate of existing 220 kV overhead line to 400 kV
2. Dunstown – Woodland - New 400 kV overhead line
3. Dunstown – Woodland - New 220 kV underground cable
4. Dunstown – Woodland - New 400 kV underground cable

These four shortlisted options will be examined in more detail during Step Three. This will take between 12 and 18 months and at the end we will put forward a best-performing solution option to be developed for construction and energisation.

The feedback period for the five possible technology options for the project closed on Monday 04 February. We are now collating the data before moving to Step Three where the shortlist of options will be put forward for more detailed evaluation and analysis.

The project is in Step Two of our six-step process for developing the grid and engaging with stakeholders. We call this six-step process Have Your Say.

In Step One of the process we identified and confirmed the need for Capital Project 966. In Step Two we are looking at a range of technical options that can meet this need.

The project team is evaluating five possible technology options, using both overhead line and underground cable, which link the two substations.

The five options are:

• An upgrade of existing 220 kV overhead lines to 400 kV;
• A new 400 kV overhead line;
• A new 220 kV overhead line;
• A new 220 kV underground cable,
• A new 400 kV underground cable.

These options will be evaluated against a set of five criteria: technical, economic, environmental, deliverability and socio-economic.

As part of this process, we are seeking feedback on the list of technical solutions. We want to understand which options you think are suitable and which are not and if there are any other technologies that you think should be brought forward to the next step.

You can begin to give feedback from Friday 23 November 2018. The feedback phase closes on Monday 04 February 2019.

We will consider your feedback when evaluating the options. We are expecting this to take three months depending on your feedback. The outcome of this evaluation will be a shortlist of technology options.  

The shortlist of options will be put forward for more detailed evaluation and analysis in Step Three.

For information on how you can provide feedback, please see here.