Construction on a high-voltage subsea cable able to carry enough power for 450,000 homes, with the aim of boosting energy security and helping to reduce bills, began on Monday between France and Ireland.
The ‘Celtic Interconnector’, which is due to be completed in 2026 and should be connected to the grid by 2027, “signifies an important step forward for the energy future of both countries” according to a joint press release from the two governments.
“Increased electricity interconnection will be a key enabler in our growing use of renewable energy, will also help lower energy prices and play a central role in Ireland’s journey to a net zero power system,” said Irish environment and Climate Minister Eamon Ryan.
His French counterpart, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, who travelled to Dublin to mark the event, said she was “thrilled to inaugurate the Celtic Interconnector” and that it would boost the security of supply and decarbonisation efforts in France and Ireland.
Once completed, the 700-megawatt cable will run between Ireland’s south coast and France’s north coast, creating a direct link between the Irish and the EU’s electricity grid.
“It will also better integrate European electricity markets, and by using more diversified energy markets, this will improve our electricity security and resilience,” said Ryan.
The EU is looking to boost interconnection between countries as a way of increasing energy security and integrating more renewables by sharing power between member states. For example, an interconnector would allow the sharing of power between a country that has windy weather to another which has less that day.
The Celtic Interconnector forms part of the Offshore Network Development Plan intended to increase the integration of the EU energy market and benefited from €530.7 million from the Connecting Europe Facility.
Ireland is also working on further connections to the British grid system, while France is developing an electricity connection with Spain.
During Pannier-Runacher’s visit, the French and Irish governments also signed a declaration of intent to cooperate on the energy transition, building on an existing action plan for 2021-2025, which includes priority projects for onshore wind, solar development and offshore renewables.
“What we have set out in this declaration makes clear that both Ireland and France will be central to wider European energy plans,” said Ryan.
Meanwhile, Pannier-Runacher said her visit would “enable the development of the very close and friendly relations between France and Ireland on energy and climate change”.
She added that the visit would also help the two governments prepare for the COP28 international climate summit at the end of the year and their co-chairing of the 2024 International Energy Agency Ministerial to set the agency’s mandate and review its achievements.
(Kira Taylor | Euractiv.com)
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