- GIL commences construction of the 500MW electricity interconnector between Ireland and Great Britain.
A 500MW 190km electricity interconnector between Ireland and Great Britain power grids has begun. The project, which is to be executed by the GreenLink Interconnector Limited (GIL), will be a subsea and an underground electricity connection project.
The project worth over €500 million in investments is the first private finance-based Interconnector in Europe. Debt finance, secured by the Partners Group – a leading global private markets firm, will be used for the project’s development.
The Greenlink project includes a 160km subsea high-voltage direct current cable system, two converter stations, one tail station at Wexford, and onshore cable works in Wexford and Pembrokeshire. The 500MW nominal capacity of the project means that it can support approximately 380,000 households for their power needs. The new provision also reduces the price pressure that comes with wholesale energy, increasing the energy supply security of electricity consumers.
Greenlink has secured Cap and Floor agreements by Ofgem in Great Britain and the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU) in Ireland. The Cap and Floor regime is an arrangement introduced by the GB and Irish regulators to promote the development, financing, and construction of electricity interconnectors where it is demonstrably beneficial to consumers. The project has also received funding from the Connecting Europe Facility of the European Union.