DUBLIN: The construction of the Celtic Interconnector, a first-of-its-kind project in Europe to link the electricity grids of Ireland and France, is progressing. The primary objective is to ensure security of electricity supply and to quickly restore power in the event of an outage.
The current focus is on laying the underwater cable for the €1.6 billion project. The interconnector will be a 575 km-long cable stretching from East Cork to northwestern Brittany, capable of transmitting 700 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 450,000 homes.
Specialized marine vessel, the Calypso from Norway, has begun laying the cable along an 84-kilometer section of the route. Due to its sensitivity to weather, the work is being carried out during the summer.
Marine survey teams had previously mapped the seabed to ensure the best route. The project is being developed by EirGrid and its French counterpart, Réseau de Transport d’Électricité (RTE), with support from the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility fund.
The project began in 2023 and is planned to be operational by the spring of 2028. On the Irish side, 97% of the trenching and ducting work between the beach and the converter station in Carrigtohill is complete. Three massive 200-tonne transformers for the converter station are expected to arrive later this month. The HV AC cable has also been installed between the converter station and the Knockraha substation, which feeds into the national grid 10 kilometers away.
