Energy

KEY DEVELOPMENTS

Biomethane

As plans to develop the biomethane sector progress, we look at some of the main elements to consider in developing biomethane production facilities in our briefing: Biomethane: Guide to project development in Ireland.

Permit-granting Procedure

Last month we looked at recent developments in the transposition of the Renewable Energy Directive in our briefing Renewable Energy: Update on Permit-granting Procedures in Ireland. Since then, further amendments have been made to the Planning Regulations, as we note in the Planning section and our update Renewable Energy: Permit-granting Procedures – New site notice form – Arthur Cox LLP. A further set of amending regulations have been made, outlined in our Environment section.

RESS 5

Provisional auction results are available. Auction weighted average prices were €100.63/MWh for solar and €96.56/MWh for wind. Deemed energy quantities provisionally successful are 829.06 GWh for solar and 670.96 GWh for wind. Final competition rations as published by the CRU are available here.

Offshore

A proposal on the national offshore renewable energy Designated Maritime Area Plan (“DMAP ”) has been published with a Public Participation Statement which includes an indicative timeline:

Q4 2025: begin data analysis to inform plan development,
Q1 2026-Q1 2027: pre-draft targeted consultation and ongoing dialogue,
Q1-Q3 2027: formal public consultation, and
Q3-Q4 2027: finalisation of DMAP including submission of final plan and assessments to the Oireachtas.

CBAM

Our recent update on the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism is available here: CBAM - Consultation on Implementing Regulations - Arthur Cox LLP. In addition, the Parliament has now formally adopted the amendments to simplify the CBAM. Once officially endorsed by the Council, the amendments will enter into force three days after publication in the EU Official Journal.

EU DEVELOPMENTS

Electricity

Bidding Zones: ACER has found room for improvement in Member States’ cooperation to configure bidding zones to maximise economic efficiency.
Clearing Price Methodologies: It is proposed to include an additional metric in the conditions for triggering the automatic price adjustment mechanism in circumstances of exceptionally high or low prices, in order to avoid triggering the mechanism in cases of low liquidity in the day-ahead and intraday markets. Comments / questions are invited by 31 October 2025 and ACER plans to decide on the methodology by February 2026.
Cross-zonal Capacity and Congestion Management: In its 2025 monitoring report, ACER highlights the need for TSOs to make at least 70% of physical transmission capacity available for cross-zonal trade on all lines of cross-zonal relevance. It also notes that grid reinforcement delays continue to widen the gap between grid development and system needs.
Grids Package: As the Commission prepares legislation to improve the current legal framework on grids, ACER has made recommendations around network development aspects (as opposed to permitting and financing). ENTSO-E has also published recommendations.
Long-term transmission rights: ACER approved TSO proposals to amend the harmonised allocation rules for long-term electricity transmission rights.
TYNDP: ENTSO-E invites promoters to submit transmission or storage infrastructure projects until 15 October 2025 (noon CET) for potential inclusion in the Ten-Year Network Development Plan 2026.

Gas

Security of Supply: Regulation (EU) 2017/1938 on measures to safeguard the security of supply of gas has been amended to extend until the end of 2027 the gas storage-filling obligations on Member States, while at the same time introducing some flexibility into those provisions. Certain obligations do not apply to Ireland as long as it is not directly connected to another Member State.
Low-carbon hydrogen: A Parliament study on the impact of the Delegated Act on low-carbon hydrogen, which establishes a harmonised, transparent framework, is available: Methodology for assessing greenhouse gas emissions savings from low-carbon fuels.

REMIT

ACER is consulting until 29 October 2025 on updates to the REMIT market participant registration format and the Centralised European Register of Energy Market Participants platform.

Resilience of Critical Infrastructure

The European Commission provided guidelines to help Member States identify critical entities in 11 key sectors, including energy, transport, and digital infrastructure. They are also intended to help Member States implement the Critical Entities Resilience Directive designed to develop national strategies, conduct regular risk assessments, and identify critical entities and support them to comply with their obligations. Member States can receive funding for the protection of critical infrastructure under the Internal Security fund.

Security Framework

The European Commission is calling for evidence until 13 October 2025 to review its energy security framework (the Gas Security of Supply Regulation and Electricity Risk Preparedness Regulation, as well as instruments impacting energy security such as the Oil Stockholding Directive, Critical Entities Resilience Directive, and the Net-Zero Industry Act). The aim is to reinforce the capacity of the EU energy system to anticipate and respond to challenges. Areas of focus are operational readiness, cross-sector interaction, electrification and expansion of renewable energy sources, cross-border consideration, new threats and persistent dependencies.

Energy Efficiency

The EIB launched an investment measure to support energy efficiency in SMEs.

Small Modular Reactors

A Strategic Action Plan on Small Modular Reactors, adopted by the European Industrial Alliance, outlines actions for the next five years, focusing on challenges such as market demand beyond electricity production, revitalising the supply chain, promoting R&D and skills development, unlocking financial opportunities, and simplifying regulatory frameworks.

Strategic Projects

One of the objectives of the Critical Raw Materials Regulation (EU) 2024/1252 is to identify and support strategic projects active in the extraction, processing or recycling of strategic raw materials or which contribute to the production of relevant substitute materials. A draft implementing regulation has been published which sets out a single template to be used by project promoters to apply for recognition of a critical raw material project as a strategic project. The Commission has also launched a second call for strategic projects until 15 January 2026 to secure critical raw materials supply.

CASELAW

CJEU rules on compatibility of fossil gas with EU Taxonomy Regulation

The Commission adopted a delegated Regulation which means that certain activities in the nuclear energy and fossil gas sectors were included in the categories of activities deemed to contribute substantially to climate change mitigation and adaptation under the EU Taxonomy Regulation. In Case T-625/22, Austria sought to annul the delegated Regulation. The General Court dismissed Austria’s application, finding that the Commission acted within the powers conferred on it by the EU Taxonomy Regulation and had a broad discretion in setting technical screening criteria based on scientific evidence. The Commission was entitled to take the view that economic activities in the fossil gas sector can, under certain conditions, contribute substantially to climate change mitigation and adaptation. Inclusion of fossil gas was based on a gradual approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in stages while allowing for security of energy supply. A press release is available: Austria’s action against the inclusion of nuclear energy and fossil gas in the sustainable investment scheme dismissed.

DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS

Autumn Legislative Programme

The Government Legislation Programme for Autumn 2025 lists the following for priority publication this session:

Gas Safety (Amendment) Bill, and
Eirgrid and ESB, Electricity Amendment Bill, to provide a mechanism to support equity injection into ESB/Eirgrid.

The following is listed for priority drafting this session:

Heat (Networks and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, to establish a regulatory model for district heating, and to mandate all public sector buildings and facilities to connect to district heating where it is available and is technically and economically feasible,
Renewable Heat Obligation Bill 2025, to place an obligation on the suppliers of fossil fuels used for heat to demonstrate a proportion of the energy they supply is from a renewable source,
Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Bill 2025, to provide for the establishment and maintenance of forestry corridors to improve the resilience of the electricity network,
Strategic Gas Emergency Reserve (Amendment) Bill 2025,
Energy Performance of Buildings Directive Bill.

The list of all other legislation includes the Direct Lines Bill, Hydrogen Bill, and Geothermal Energy Bill.

Accelerating Infrastructure

The Government published an Action Plan on Competitiveness and Productivity setting out 85 actions, 26 of which are priority actions. Priority actions include bringing forward legislation for a new private wire framework and reviewing electricity network tariffs.

FURTHER CRU BUSINESS

Electricity Network Tariff Review

The CRU is consulting until 24 October 2025 on re-commencement of a review of tariff structures which had been paused when Russia invaded Ukraine. The first phase focuses on objectives, principles and scope of the review as proposed in the consultation paper on Electricity Network Tariff Structure Review. It indicates that there are a number of potential considerations for reforms, such as adjusting shares of revenues recovered via tariff components (fixed vs variable), time-of-use tariffs, locational tariffs, interruptible tariffs, generator DUoS, and dynamic network tariffs (for example, close to real time price signals). Since the consultation paper was published, EU law has provided for flexible connection agreements which may specify the network charges applicable to both firm and flexible capacities.

Compulsory Acquisition of Land

The CRU intends to procure a framework from which inspectors may be called upon to review special order applications under section 47 of the Electricity Regulation Act 1999.

Customers

A Decision on additional customer protection measures for household electricity and gas customers sets out a table showing customer protection measures for winter 2025/26 that apply in addition to the Gas & Electricity Suppliers’ Handbooks. Changes relate to the allowed debt recovery ratio on pay-as-you-go meters and requirements when engaging with indebted customers who may benefit from entering a repayment plan. The CRU also announced accreditation of a new price comparison website.

Cooperation

The CRU and EPA renewed their Memorandum of Understanding to facilitate cooperation to achieve several goals including avoidance of unnecessary duplication of effort and unnecessary regulatory burden.

SEMC BUSINESS

Tariffs and Charges

Final values for several SEM charges for the tariff year 2025/26 have been published.

Capacity Market

The SEMC published an updated decision to include the legal text for Code Modification CMC_13_25 relating to the capacity market auction timetable.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Renewable Energy Price Guarantee Scheme

Final design for a price guarantee scheme has been published. Support will be delivered through 15-year contracts in which the strike price will be fully linked to the CPI index and there will be compensation at the strike price for constraints and curtailment, unless compensated elsewhere. It is planned to consult on terms and conditions this quarter, publish final terms and conditions in Q2 2026, launch an auction in Q1 2027, and award contracts in 2027.