What is being built at Poolbeg - and under what permissions?
Four separate consent chains share one peninsula. The Dublin Waste-to-Energy incinerator was approved in November 2007 (An Bord Pleanala case PL29S.EF2022, a local-authority application under section 226) and had its capacity raised from 600,000 to 690,000 tonnes a year in December 2021 (ABP-309812-21). The Poolbeg West Strategic Development Zone was designated in 2016 and its planning scheme - enabling roughly 3,500 homes on and around the Irish Glass Bottle site - was approved with modifications in April 2019 (ZD29S.ZD2013), with a scheme amendment proposed in 2025 and modification applications live in 2026. The ESB's 299 MW flexible-generation plant was granted by Dublin City Council in December 2023 (ref 3137/23) and has been on site since early 2026. The Ringsend wastewater treatment upgrade (ABP, 2019) completes the set.
Every filing on the record
The Dublin Waste-to-Energy facility at 600,000 tonnes per annum - the original incinerator consent. (A 2018 attempt to add 90,000 tpa, case PC29N.302019, was withdrawn.)
Capacity uplift for the incinerator from 600,000 to 690,000 tonnes per annum.
The Poolbeg West planning scheme: the framework for roughly 3,500 homes plus commercial space on the 34-hectare SDZ designated in 2016 (SI 279/2016). Amendments to the scheme were proposed by Dublin City Council in 2025; modification applications by Pembroke Beach DAC on the Irish Glass Bottle site were live on the register in February 2026.
The 299 MW (297 MW net) open-cycle gas turbine within the Poolbeg Generating Station on Pigeon House Road, including demolition of former tank-farm structures and a 40 m stack. Commencement notices from March 2026 (SN0013810DC and related) put the electrical, control and substation elements on site; completion is expected late 2026 to early 2027.
The Ringsend wastewater treatment plant upgrade - the fourth major consent chain on the peninsula.
Poolbeg is the densest concentration of nationally significant consents in the State: waste, power, water and housing within a couple of kilometres. The commencement notices tell today's story - the 299 MW plant's control rooms and 220 kV substation works went to site through spring 2026, while six modification applications on the Glass Bottle site moved through the register in February 2026 alone.
The next planning event is the SDZ scheme amendment: Dublin City Council published proposed amendments in 2025, and their approval route runs through An Coimisiun Pleanala. District-heating offtake from the incinerator - long promised for tens of thousands of homes - remains a policy story to track alongside the register.
What to watch next
- The SDZ scheme-amendment decision and the Glass Bottle site modification applications.
- Completion and energisation of the 299 MW plant (expected late 2026 to early 2027).
- Commencement notices on the housing phases.
Core documents
The primary sources behind this tracker - reports, orders and official records, linked directly for researchers.
Method: compiled from the public planning register as ingested by PlanningLeads; updated 16 July 2026. Registers move as cases progress - always check the live record before relying on a status. Organisation campuses only; no personal data is reported.