EirGrid’s Grid25 infrastructure investment programme will sustain nearly 3,000 jobs per year while also ensuring Ireland remains an attractive location for business, a new study by Indecon International Economic Consultants suggests.
An estimated €3.2bn will be invested in a wide range of electricity transmission projects up to the year 2025 through the Grid25 programme, which was launched in 2008. The purpose of this infrastructure investment is to meet growing electricity demand and also to reach Ireland’s renewable-energy targets.
The Indecon study ‘Evaluation of the Wider Economic Benefits of Grid25 Investment Programme’, commissioned by EirGrid, says Grid25 will support 2,896 jobs during the 15-year period.
The study also suggests that the investment will have a positive impact on investor confidence in Ireland. In a survey of multinational and indigenous firms with significant energy requirements, 83pc said additional available capacity on the electricity transmission grid was important or very important to their expansion plans.
The study also found that a lack of grid development could limit investment, with hi-tech multinationals requiring about 50MW additional capacity in order to consider a major investment. To put that into perspective, this would represent the peak electricity demand of a town the size of Mullingar, Co Westmeath.
