Press release

Government approves the drafting of the Private Wires Bill

From: Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment
Published on: 16 December 2025
Last updated on: 19 December 2025

Legislation will support the build-out of Ireland's electricity grid

The Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment Darragh O'Brien has secured government approval to commence drafting of the Private Wires Bill. The bill will amend the Electricity Regulation Act 1999 to enable private development of electricity wires in 4 specific circumstances.

Private wires legislation will aid the build-out of Ireland's electricity grid, whilst simultaneously accelerating the roll-out of renewable energy and electricity storage solutions. In this way, private development of electricity infrastructure will unlock new investment and alleviate grid constraints.

As per the approved Private Wires Policy Statement in July 2025, this bill will allow for private wires to be built in 4 limited circumstances:

To permit a private wire linking a single user of electricity to a separate singular generation asset. This connection may also include storage technologies.
To facilitate hybrid grid connections
To allow on-street charging solutions for Electric Vehicles
To allow a customer that self-supplies electricity to provide electricity to a separate customer in a contiguous premises

In order to develop a General Scheme in line with these 4 use cases, the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment worked in close consultation with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU), as well as ESB Networks and EirGrid. A regulatory impact assessment (RIA) was also conducted to evaluate the costs, benefits and impacts of the proposed legislation. To ensure diverse and accurate representation, an extensive public consultation was held to inform the policy statement in 2023. Feedback was received from a wide range of stakeholders including industry representatives from the renewable generation community, demand users, environmental groups, and farming associations.

As the bill is being drafted and implemented, the department will continue to work closely with the CRU and system operators – EirGrid and ESB Networks – to ensure private wires are regulated to high safety and technical standards and do not interfere with the efficient development of the national transmission and distribution grid.

This bill is the next step in implementing the Private Wires Policy Framework. The development of the framework was committed to as an action in the Climate Action Plan and Programme for Government 2025. The Regulatory Impact Assessment and Heads of Bill are available now to view on the department's website.

Minister O'Brien said:

"The approval for the drafting of this bill is a positive step in the implementation of the Private Wires Policy Statement which was approved by the government this year. Once they are enabled, private wires will allow for private investment in electricity infrastructure, particularly to enable the development of more renewable energy and electricity storage. Private wires will provide greater opportunity for electricity customers and generators, and this will form part of the overall solution for further electrification and development of clean energy, whilst still ensuring that the national electricity grid is the primary route for electricity connections."

ENDS

Notes to the Editor

Private Wires Policy Statement

On 15 July 2025, the government adopted a Policy Statement on Private Wires. This is a significant reform of the rules on electricity infrastructure. The Policy Statement calls for legislative reform of the Electricity Regulation Act to unlock private sector investment in electricity infrastructure, particularly renewable generation and storage. It will also facilitate the provision of low-cost charging solutions for electric vehicles and expand opportunities for self-supply of electricity.

The Policy Statement is underpinned by a number of guiding principles including acceleration of renewable energy and storage solutions, alignment with wider government policy objectives, prioritisation of national grid development and financing, and ensuring rigorous safety and technical standards of private wires. These guiding principles will be carried forth into the legislative and regulatory regime currently under development.

Accelerating Infrastructure Report and Action Plan

On 3 December 2025, the government published Accelerating Infrastructure – Report and Action Plan. The Action Plan addresses the 12 barriers to infrastructure development that were highlighted in the Report on Stakeholder Consultation and Engagement with Emerging Themes on Infrastructure, published in July. One of the 30 specific actions listed is Action 15 titled "Enable Developer-led Infrastructure". Advancing regulations to enable private wire electricity connection in line with the government's Private Wires Policy Statement is listed as a key sub-action under Action 15.

Climate Action Plan 2025

Ireland's third annual update to the Climate Action Plan sets out a number of actions to achieve a climate neutral and environmentally sustainable economy by no later than 2050. Private wires have been identified as one enabler of a decarbonised electricity sector by facilitating an increased uptake of renewable energy. Publishing a final Private Wires Policy Framework is highlighted as an action under Section 11 of the Climate Action Plan 2025 pertaining to electricity.

This commitment is also mirrored in the Programme for Government 2025 where private wires are associated with helping Irish companies scale globally and attract more inward investment as well as to help support economic growth with renewable energy.