28/09/2026 in News, Views from Echelon

The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) has approved new grid code requirements for Ireland’s transmission-connected large energy users, formalising an approach Echelon tested live at its DUB10 campus earlier this month.

This week the CRU approved the MPID345 Grid Code Modification together with an associated Compliance and Derogation Framework. The modification requires transmission-connected large energy users to ride through faults on the transmission system: to remain connected during brief voltage disturbances, and to recover quickly to 90% of pre-fault demand levels. Following fault clearance, a facility is required to restore at least 90% of its demand within 500 milliseconds of grid voltage recovering to 90% of nominal voltage. The modification comes into effect five weeks after the date of approval, with the Compliance and Derogation Framework providing a timebound route for facilities progressing toward compliance.

The requirement applies to large energy users across the board, not to data centres alone. It reflects a well-documented engineering reality: electrical faults on transmission networks are common and can last less than a tenth of a second, but the resulting voltage drop can cause large users to disconnect and transfer to back-up power. When several disconnect simultaneously, demand falls sharply, and the resulting frequency imbalance carries the potential to affect system stability.

Echelon Data Centres completed a live Fault Ride Through test at DUB10 in September, working with transmission system operator EirGrid and a team of suppliers. The test demonstrated that a data centre can remain connected to the grid through transient faults rather than dropping demand and the results, shared with EirGrid, showed the ability to meet the proposed grid code requirements now approved by the CRU.

The work was carried out with Huawei, TNEI and NeoDyne, and the test was attended by representatives of EirGrid, ESB Networks and the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment. The technical basis was an upgraded Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) configuration capable of tolerating transient faults without triggering back-up power.

A systematic rollout plan across Echelon’s sites is in development.

Cormac Nevin, Echelon’s Director of Power, Planning and Utilities, said: “The CRU’s decision gives the industry a clear, common standard to work to, and exceed where possible. We were glad to be able to test the approach at DUB10 and share those results with EirGrid, ESB and all industry stakeholders, because the questions large energy users are being asked about grid stability are reasonable ones, and they are best answered with evidence. We’ll continue working with EirGrid, ESB the CRU and our supply partners as facilities across the system move toward compliance.”

Formalising these requirements in the grid code changes Fault Ride Through from an emerging good practice into a defined obligation with a compliance pathway attached. For Echelon, it validates an approach already tested and moves the focus to delivery across the estate.

It also reflects the principle behind the company’s Power First approach: addressing energy requirements early, working with the grid operator and partners rather than around them, and designing infrastructure that can operate responsibly within the wider energy system.