Kildare-Meath Grid Upgrade

The Kildare-Meath Grid Upgrade (or Capital Project 966) will add a high-capacity 400 kV (kilovolt) underground electricity connection between Dunstown substation in Co Kildare and Woodland substation in Co Meath. 

The upgrade will help to move electricity more effectively to the east of the country. It will also allow us to better distribute it within the electricity grid in Meath, Kildare and surrounding counties.

Climate Targets

The project is essential to assist Ireland in achieving our climate action targets. The Government's target is to have 80% of electricity coming from renewable sources by 2030. Bringing electricity from onshore and offshore wind sources is critical to this target.

Meeting Energy Demand

It will also help meet the area's growing demand for electricity. This growth is due to:

Securing Our Electricity Supply

Much of our electricity is generated in the south and south-west of the country, where there are wind farms and modern electricity generators. The power they generate needs to be transported to where it is needed. 

Power is currently transported across the country on two high-voltage power lines. These run from Moneypoint in Co Clare to the Dunstown substation in Co Kildare and Woodland substation in Co Meath. 

Transporting more electricity on these lines could cause electricity supply problems throughout Ireland. This is particularly true if one of the lines is lost or out-of-use unexpectedly. This project will help to minimise this risk.

When progressing grid development projects, we follow a six-step approach, ensuring each step is clear and identifiable.

The Kildare-Meath Grid Upgrade community forum brings together people and organisations from the study area. It ensures that stakeholders and community views are understood and considered as we deliver the project. It gives a voice to local communities and those impacted most by our infrastructure. The forum provides for open dialogue between the project teams and stakeholders.

The forum offers advice to us on key project developments such as:

Development Perspectives, an Irish non-governmental organisation, are the independent chair of the forum.

Membership

In June 2021 we held an information evening about the setup of this community forum. Following this, we opened a public nomination period where community groups were invited to express an interest in becoming members of the forum.

In addition, we invited Kildare County Council and Meath County Council to nominate an elected representative from each county council to the forum.

Membership of this forum is evolving since its formation. If you are interested in become a member, please contact your Community Liaison Officers in the area:

Grainne.duffy@eirgrid.com or Eoghan.osullivan@eirgrid.com.

Below are documents about the Kildare-Meath Grid Upgrade. We use a six-step process for developing new projects. These documents are organised based on the step of the project they refer to, with the most recent news appearing first.

Step 5 Summary of engagement with the public and stakeholders

Step 4 Best Performing Option Update Documents

Step 4 consultations documents - update

Step 4 consultation documents. Where exactly will we build?

Step 3 outcome documents

Step 3 documents. What is the best option and what area may be affected?

Published for Consultation Phase:

Published for Information Phase:

Visit the Project Microsite

Step 2 documents

Step 1 documents

To make a submission on this project, go to our Contact page and fill in the required fields using the dropdown 'Capital Project 966'. Your submission can be entered into the text box on the contact form. Please note, there is a limit of 4000 characters.

Have Your Say: How we develop the electricity grid, and how you can influence our plans.

Health

Community Forum minutes of meetings