EirGrid is installing over 50km of underground electricity cables across Dublin city as part of a major upgrade.
Twelve potential routes have been identified; five of which will ultimately be chosen after a public consultation.
"A considerable amount of roadworks will be needed to complete the works," EirGrid says.
It has launched a public consultation for eight weeks from Tuesday, March 28th.
Michael Mahon, Eirgrid's Chief Infrastructure Officer, told The Pat Kenny Show this is necessary work.
"There's an existing electricity network in Dublin that's ageing and needs to be replaced," he said.
"We need to replace 50kms of cables throughout the city of Dublin to allow us to make the system more sustainable into the future, to allow us to take advantage of renewable energy and to transport that into our homes and businesses".
Some of the potential routes in the public consultation from EirGrid. Picture by: EirGridMr Mahon said modern cables mean the ability to transfer more power.
"The demand for electricity in Dublin is so great, that we can't afford to take the existing circuits out of service for long enough to replace them," he said.
"Some of the cables are actually direct-buried... so we need to replace those cables with new routes.
"That's the purpose of the consultation: to engage with people to try and actually find out the best routes that minimise the level of disruption that's going to be involved".
Some of the potential routes in the public consultation from EirGrid. Picture by: EirGridMr Mahon said plans more electric cars, heat pumps and new houses will add to the demand.
"Demand in the Dublin area at the moment is about 1,800 megawatts," he said.
"That demand for Dublin is going to increase over the next number of years.
"The purpose of this upgrade, and the other projects outside of Dublin, is effectively to transport renewable energy into the Greater Dublin Area".
Mr Mahon said this project may impact on other, existing works to Luas or cycle lanes.
"There is a potential... but again part of the consultation, part of working with the councils, etc in our infrastructure forum, part of engaging with communities is to try and find the best routes that minimise the amount of disruption," he added.
Listen back to the full interview below:
People can contribute to the consultation by emailing their submissions to Dublin@EirGrid.ie, visiting the online consultation portal at Consult.EirGrid.ie, or by attending EirGrid public information events and drop-in clinics. More information can be found here
