Major Portlaoise electricity upgrade is almost complete
The upgrade is nearing completion in Portlaoise. File image
A MAJOR electricity upgrade in Portlaoise will provide enough extra capacity for about 2,500 homes, according to ESB Networks.
Works are nearing completion at the Pallas 38 kV Station in Portlaoise, where two existing 5 MVA transformers are being replaced by two 10 MVA transformers.
The project will double the capacity of the station and provide an additional 10 MVA of installed transformer capacity to meet growing residential, commercial and industrial demand in the town and surrounding areas.
According to ESB Networks, the additional capacity will also allow for increased demand associated with technologies such as heat pumps and electric vehicles.
The Pallas 38kV substation at Mountain View Square has critical electricity transmission infrastructure of national and regional importance, serving thousands of commercial and domestic customers in Portlaoise and surrounding areas.
In an update on 28 September, ESB Networks said the completed works will double the capacity of electricity available to serve homes, businesses and local industry in the wider Portlaoise area.
ESB Networks capacity deployment manager James Finn described the upgrade as ‘an important step in accelerating additional capacity for Portlaoise and the wider region, helping to support new homes, business growth and the continued development of local communities’.
He added that the upgrade would allow customers to connect sooner, ‘while also preparing the system to support increasing electrification, including heat pumps and electric vehicles as Ireland progresses with its climate ambitions’.
The works are part of ESB Networks’ wider programme of investments under Price Review 6 (PR6), which aims to ‘strengthen and build out the electricity network across the country, ensuring it can meet increasing demand while supporting Ireland’s housing and climate ambitions’.
The project is in addition to a recent upgrade which involved the uprating of two 31.5 MVA transformers to 63 MVA at the Portlaoise 110 kV Station, doubling capacity there and enabling new homes, businesses and farms to connect to the network.
ESB Networks also energised a new 110 kV station at Bracklone near Portarlington this summer, in the first of 30 new 110 kV substations planned under PR6, which will benefit around 13,000 customers across the wider Laois and midlands region.
Work is also continuing on the Laois-Kilkenny Grid Reinforcement Project, which includes the construction of a new substation at Coolnabacky, near Ratheniska, to boost electricity capacity in the midlands and south-east. The project is one of 29 priority transmission projects brought forward by EirGrid and delivered by ESB Networks under PR6.
