East Cork road closures for €1bn cable connector 

EirGrid said it hopes to provide mitigation measures to ease disruption during the works.

An exploratory drilling Rig carrying out a feasibility study of the seabed to assess its suitability for the proposed Celtic Interconnector between Ireland and France at Claycastle, Youghal, Co  Cork- Picture: David Creedon / Anzenberger

There is likely to be a number of significant road closures in rural areas of East Cork to facilitate EirGrid's €1bn electricity/fibreoptic cable links between Ireland and France, with the project set to go before An Bord Pleanála next May.

The company has outlined its latest plans for progressing the Celtic Interconnector, which will provide electricity from Brittany, France via a submarine cable, which will make landfall in Claycastle, near Youghal.

The cable will run alongside the N25 (Cork to Waterford road) between Youghal and the former Amgen site at Carrigtwohill, where a converter station is to be built. This is needed because French electricity is Direct Current, while we use Alternating Current.

EirGrid officials say this will not lead to any disruption as the cables will be laid on the wide road margins of the N25. The company intends to skirt them around Castlemartyr and Killeagh, to avoid disruption.

However, it will be a different picture when the cables are laid from the Amgen site up to Knockraha, where they will feed into the national grid.

The route chosen for Celtic Interconnector. Picture: EirGrid

The roads in that area are very narrow in places and have little or no margins. EirGrid said laying the cables in these areas will require road closures and, in some cases, they will have to run through privately-owned land.

The company said it hopes to provide mitigation measures to ease disruption during these works, and will put bulletins up on social media, as well as doing leaflet drops to households to inform locals of road closures/delays etc.

EirGrid will lodge a Strategic Infrastructure Project planning application with An Bord Pleanála in May and hopes to start work on cable-laying next year. The project is set to be completed by 2026.

The cable between Brittany and Cork will be 600km long, with 500km of it undersea.

It will provide Ireland with 700 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 450,000 homes.

Des Cox, the company's onshore project manager, said it would allow the country to tap into the European energy market, which “is a huge advantage” as it should see electricity prices drop for consumers.

The inclusion of the fibreoptic cables in the project will also allow for connectivity with European telecoms networks.