Ireland’s Commission for Regulation of Utilities released its first national assessment of grid flexibility requirements, identifying approximately 234 MW and 58 GWh of potential upward flexibility needs on distribution networks in 2028. The assessment examined flexibility options including battery storage, managed electric vehicle charging, and industrial demand response.
The analysis highlighted the importance of electrical location in meeting flexibility requirements. The Naas 38 kV/10 kV substation serves as a case study, with modeled requirements of 0.6 MW and 3 MWh concentrated in January 2028. However, the assessment notes that flexibility resources must be electrically connected at the specific location where constraints occur to be effective. A battery providing balancing services or integrating renewable generation elsewhere in the grid could not address the particular constraint at Naas, despite potentially delivering broader value to the electricity system.
Demand response resources face similar location-based limitations. While a large fleet of electric vehicles might represent substantial flexible demand nationally, only those connected at electrically useful locations can relieve a specific transformer. Their charging availability must also align with network needs while supporting the journeys users require. The same constraints apply to industrial and commercial loads such as refrigeration and heating systems.
Timing considerations add further complexity to flexibility procurement. The Naas figures describing megawatt and megawatt-hour requirements do not directly indicate the duration of needed discharge periods. The actual length of individual constraint events, recovery periods between them, and customer operational requirements all influence which flexibility resources could effectively serve a particular network need.
The assessment referenced experience in Britain, where UK Power Networks ceased seeking flexibility tenders for certain single-transformer substations where constraints typically lasted 24 hours. The existing flexibility market could not address these requirements on both technical and commercial grounds, suggesting that traditional network reinforcement or other engineering solutions may prove more appropriate in some cases.
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