Infrastructure › Electricity
Electricity network capacity
Where can a new estate, factory or data centre connect? ESB Networks publishes the spare transformer capacity at every substation. Below it, the national grid day by day from EirGrid.
657substations (38 kV and above, plus MV)
311with no spare demand capacity
36.0%average wind share of demand, last 60 daysJuly 2026ESB heatmap edition
Substation headroom
Spare demand capacityNone (or constrained upstream)
| Most spare capacity | County | Demand MVA | Gen MW |
|---|---|---|---|
| THORNSBERRY (717000) 110 kV STATION | Offaly | 65.1 | 43.2 |
| POOLBEG (799000) 220 kV STATION | Dublin | 57.1 | 281.1 |
| LISHEEN (792000) 110 kV STATION | Kilkenny | 56.4 | 20.5 |
| BINBANE (666000) 110 kV STATION | Donegal | 66.6 | 0.0 |
| REAMORE (197000) 110 kV STATION | Kerry | 56.5 | 15.8 |
| COOMATAGGART (877000) 110 kV STATION | Kerry | 55.7 | 17.5 |
| BOGGERAGH (572000) 110 kV STATION | Cork | 55.6 | 16.8 |
| CRORY (473000) 110 kV STATION | Wexford | 55.4 | 0.0 |
| GARVAGH (570000) 110 kV STATION | Leitrim | 55.2 | 26.2 |
| CAUTEEN (573000) 110 kV STATION | Tipperary | 56.2 | 0.0 |
| CORDAL (865000) 110 kV STATION | Kerry | 54.3 | 2.4 |
| CLOGHBOOLA (875000) 110 kV STATION | Kerry | 54.2 | 5.6 |
| GORTAWEE (815000) 110 kV STATION | Cavan | 44.4 | 55.1 |
| CORDUFF (932000) 220 kV STATION | Dublin | 41.3 | 38.7 |
| GLENLARA (936000) 110 kV STATION | Cork | 56.1 | 19.4 |
| BLACKROCK (338000) 110 kV STATION | Dublin | 36.3 | 64.0 |
| CHERRYWOOD (499000) 110 kV STATION | Dublin | 70.4 | 73.0 |
| TRALEE (719000) 110 kV STATION | Kerry | 28.6 | 10.6 |
| BEDFORD ROW (068000) 38 kV STATION | Dublin | 28.4 | 62.8 |
| SORNE HILL (743000) 110 kV STATION | Donegal | 27.7 | 5.0 |
| SLIGO (715000) 110 kV STATION | Sligo | 27.1 | 55.8 |
| TAWNAGHMORE (952000) 110 kV STATION | Mayo | 26.8 | 0.1 |
| MEATH HILL (691000) 110 kV STATION | Cavan | 26.4 | 0.0 |
| CASTLEBAR (520000) 110 kV STATION | Mayo | 25.0 | 0.0 |
| CARLOW (669000) 110 kV STATION | Carlow | 22.0 | 0.0 |
By county
| County | Substations | Constrained | Share | Spare demand MVA | Spare generation MW |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kildare | 18 | 16 | 89% | 13 | 150 |
| Waterford | 11 | 9 | 82% | 22 | 0 |
| Laois | 8 | 5 | 62% | 30 | 58 |
| Clare | 23 | 14 | 61% | 169 | 145 |
| Dublin | 127 | 72 | 57% | 1,210 | 4,956 |
| Limerick | 30 | 17 | 57% | 72 | 208 |
| Galway | 34 | 19 | 56% | 112 | 296 |
| Westmeath | 11 | 6 | 55% | 37 | 82 |
| Louth | 21 | 11 | 52% | 70 | 104 |
| Cork | 84 | 43 | 51% | 566 | 718 |
| Kilkenny | 30 | 14 | 47% | 188 | 198 |
| Meath | 18 | 8 | 44% | 30 | 92 |
| Kerry | 30 | 13 | 43% | 423 | 184 |
| Wicklow | 14 | 6 | 43% | 110 | 110 |
| Monaghan | 10 | 4 | 40% | 17 | 6 |
| Offaly | 13 | 5 | 38% | 92 | 107 |
| Longford | 8 | 3 | 38% | 18 | 42 |
| Tipperary | 34 | 12 | 35% | 284 | 90 |
| Roscommon | 6 | 2 | 33% | 11 | 21 |
| Donegal | 31 | 10 | 32% | 261 | 65 |
| Sligo | 10 | 3 | 30% | 46 | 100 |
| Carlow | 7 | 2 | 29% | 31 | 0 |
| Wexford | 19 | 5 | 26% | 154 | 99 |
| Mayo | 32 | 7 | 22% | 309 | 191 |
| Leitrim | 11 | 2 | 18% | 166 | 69 |
| Cavan | 17 | 3 | 18% | 133 | 101 |
The grid today
Daily totals for Ireland, last 60 days. Latest: 4 Nov 2026, demand 109.65 GWh, wind 23.73 GWh, CO₂ 224 g/kWh.
DemandWind
Wind share of demand
CO₂ intensity (g/kWh)
Sources: ESB Networks Availability Capacity Heatmap (xlsx), which shows transformer capacity only and is not a connection offer; EirGrid Smart Grid Dashboard (Ireland, 15-minute data summed to days).