Ireland-France Charging Ahead with First Power Link

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Final contracts and the commencement of work on the first power interconnector between Ireland and France are expected to take place in the coming weeks despite project costs jumping by 75%.

The 575-kilometer (km) Celtic Interconnector will link the north coast of Brittany in France and the south coast of Ireland. It is being developed by EirGrid and Réseau de Transport d'Électricité (RTE), the respective electricity transmission system operators (TSOs) in Ireland and France. With the U.K.'s exit from the European Union (EU) and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, energy security is the leading concern in Europe. Celtic Interconnector is one of a growing number of interconnector projects designed to extend and stabilize Europe's electricity grid.

Costs for the project have spiraled from the original 2019 sum of 930 million euro (US$951 million) to 1.6 billion euro (US$1.64 billion). Following a reassessment of the costs, energy regulators in Ireland and France have committed to going ahead with the project, claiming it "has significant benefits at an EU level".

In 2019, Industrial Info reported that the project benefitted from funding of 530 million euro (US$543 million) from Europe's Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) after being classed as a high-priority energy infrastructure project, or "Project of Common Interest" (PCI). For additional information, see October 22, 2019, article--Vital Ireland-France Power Link Secures Funding.

The high-voltage, direct-current (HDVC) undersea cable will have a capacity of roughly 700 megawatts (MW), enough to power 450,000 households, and is seen as vital for Ireland's energy security and the shift toward renewables. In its reassessment, France's Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) stated: "The project has benefits related to production cost savings related to, on the one hand, lowering the amount of curtailed renewable production, and on the other hand to substitute Irish gas generation. The project will also contribute to the Renewable Energy Sources (RES) integration and to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The comparison of capital expenditure, operation and maintenance costs, cost of electricity losses, fuel-cost savings for electricity generation and the expected gains in terms of improved security of supply indicate that the Celtic project has significant benefits at EU level. In view of these significant benefits, the project has received substantial financial support from the European Union. The project, therefore, has strong economic and environmental benefits, despite the significant increase in costs."

RTE also confirmed that after seven years of work, the first of two HVDC lines in its new power link with Italy entered operation, with a capacity of 600 MW. Industrial Info is tracking the 190-km Savoie-Piémont electrical interconnection project, which will link the Piossasco (Piedmont) and Grande Île (Sainte-Hélène-du-Lac, Savoie) power stations. When complete, it will increase the transport capacity between the two countries by 1,200-MW, reaching a maximum exchange capacity of 4,350-MW, an increase of about 40%.

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