Skip to main content

RP7: Investment To Grow Safely

Article image

30 Oct 2024

We welcome the Utility Regulator’s Final Determination on our investment plan for the Regulatory Period 7 (RP7). Over the next six years we will undertake capital construction on the electricity network which will be double the scale of anything we’ve done before.

This essential investment will upgrade network reliability, facilitate increased renewable generation and provide sufficient network capacity to support individuals, homes and businesses to reduce their use of fossil fuels.

Over the last two years the Utility Regulator has assessed our investment plan in a robust but collaborative manner and the decision is a challenging one for us which we will take some time to review in detail. Meeting these demands will require us to work very differently with a bigger emphasis on the use of data and technology.

Much of that work has already begun while some other new ways of working will necessitate policy and regulatory changes.  We look forward to continuing our collaboration with the Utility Regulator and the Department for the Economy to deliver those required changes.

Despite the predicted growth in scale we will continue to work with employees, contractors, and the public to ensure safety remains our number one priority we will continue to deliver a safe and reliable electricity network whilst also creating good jobs, enabling regional development, and enhancing prosperity for the homes and businesses across Northern Ireland.

Watch this video with Derek Hynes, Managing Director of NIE Networks, as he reflects on the scale of the plan.