€600m interconnector shut down

The €600m east-west interconnector project has been completely shut down as workers return to fix problems with the largest single piece of infrastructure completed since the construction of the Ardnacrusha hydroelectric dam in 1929.

Tue, 12 Mar, 2013 - 00:00

Vincent Ryan

The interconnector is a vital piece of infrastructure to link Ireland with the wider European electricity grid and was unveiled with great fanfare by Taoiseach Enda Kenny last September.

The interconnector differs from a standard electricity line due to the ability to transmit electricity in both directions at 500MW capacity.

But since its unveiling the project has been dogged by technical issues, forcing it to be shut down and when it was restarted, it only operated at a very reduced capacity.

The biggest issue affecting the project is that it is interfering with the telephone lines of residents living along the route of the interconnector cable from Meath through Dublin.

A spokesperson for Eirgrid, the state-owned commercial company dedicated to the transmission of electricity, said they have been forced to shut off the interconnector completely to complete works on it.

“The east-west interconnector is currently on an outage to facilitate remedial works. The outage began at 12pm on Mar 3. It is anticipated the outage will be for four weeks with testing of the interconnector following,” he said.

Eirgrid refused to comment on whether or not they are bearing the cost of the repairs that are being carried out converter stations at both ends of the project in Meath and Deeside, Wales.

The spokesperson said “As you will appreciate, we are not in a position to comment on commercial aspects in relation to this matter.”

However, Eirgrid did confirm that they had not yet taken over the infrastructure from the developers of the €600m project, ABB. A spokesperson for ABB said they are working with Eirgrid to resolve the problem.

“ABB is supporting EirGrid and is working closely with them to look for a sustainable solution. As a policy, we do not comment on specifics in projects.”