Interconnector gets go ahead
The Celtic Interconnector Project which was granted approval, subject to a number of conditions, this week will make landfall in Claycastle Beach in Youghal.
It's a subsea link that will allow the exchange of electricity between Ireland and France. EirGrid has been working with its French counterpart, Réseau de Transport d’Electricité (RTE), to progress plans for the Interconnector. In 2019, a funding agreement under the European Commission’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Energy Programme saw the project receive €530 million in funding.
Last July, EirGrid submitted the planning application to An Bord Pleanála for the Irish onshore element of the Celtic Interconnector. This followed a series of technical assessments, consultations and engagement with the local community that took place over the preceding years. The planning application included a full Environmental Impact Assessment Report and Natural Impact Statement.
An Bord Pleanála assessed the proposal, including the landfall in Youghal, cable route, converter station and network connection and associated technologies. The board also ran a seven-week period of statutory consultation.
When asked by the Cork Independent about its route in Cork, a spokesperson for EirGrid said: “The 30 to 40km inland underground connection would be primarily installed beneath the existing road network and travel from where the connection makes landfall at Claycastle Beach in Youghal, travelling north of Midleton on local roads to a new converter station at Ballyadam, east of Carrigtwohill. It is proposed to bypass both Castlemartyr and Killeagh along this route to the station. The final connection will be by underground cable from Ballyadam to a substation on the national grid at Knockraha.”
A foreshore licence has been submitted for the offshore elements of the project in Ireland, and a marine licence is also required from the UK Marine Management Organisation. Subject to securing these consents, it is expected the project will be built and energised by 2026.