EirGrid urged to rethink Celtic Interconnector route in East Cork

Councillors want power operator to revert to original plan and duct cables along main road from Youghal rather than through populated areas

EirGrid changed original route for interconnector because of plans for a major upgrade of the N25 between Carrigtwohill and Midleton, which has now been scrapped.

EirGrid officials are being urged by councillors in East Cork to revert to their original plan and route for their Celtic Interconnector cable along the entire length of the N25, instead of proceeding to duct it through populated areas.

The company had originally planned to duct cables along the side of the main road from Youghal, where the cable will make landfall, all the way to the former site earmarked for Amgen at Ballyadam, east of Carrigtwohill.

However, it decided to abandon part of that plan as the county council was preparing a major upgrade of the N25 between Carrigtwohill and Midleton.

It was feared this could have a serious impact on the cable laying and instead EirGrid decided to reroute it off the main road into populated areas such as Churchtown North.

But since that decision, the road upgrade plan has been scrapped because Transport Infrastructure Ireland has not been allocated the money from central Government to fund it.

Councillors representing the East Cork Municipal District have written to EirGrid bosses asking them to attend a meeting with them to discuss the issue.

They are hoping EirGrid will agree to go back to its original proposal and if not, they will demand an explanation as to why.

The €1bn Celtic Interconnector is a joint project between Ireland and France to exchange electricity by using a subsea link.

A marine cable will be laid from north-western France to Ireland, making landfall at Youghal.

Opposition

There has been some opposition to routing the cable through populated areas.

Fianna Fáil councillor Ann Marie Ahern and Fine Gael councillor Michael Hegarty won support from colleagues to invite EirGrid officials to a municipal district meeting and urge them to go back to their initial plan after the N25 upgrade was axed.

Ms Ahern pointed out that EirGrid had previously informed residents that the current advertised route was only chosen because Transport Infrastructure (TII) Ireland was intending to carry out works on the N25.

“Now that TII has withdrawn the funding for this project, confirmation has to be sought from EirGrid that they are going with what they previously described as their preferred route [alongside the N25]," Ms Ahern said.

Less disruption

She said reverting to the roadside route would cause less disruption to some communities and they felt it was the proper thing to do.

Mr Hegarty explained that because of the planned road upgrade, EirGrid had decided to come off the N25 at Churchtown North, on the eastern side of Midleton (near the Two Mile Inn), and then along the so-called 'back road' between Midleton and the former Amgen site at Carrigtwohill.

“There are a lot of houses in these areas, many of which have very little roadside frontage and laying cables on what are narrow roads will cause disruption. 

"EirGrid could avoid all this hassle by going back to the original plan of ducting the cables along the main road from Churchtown North onto Carrigtwohill,” Mr Hegarty said.

The former Amgen site will be used by EirGrid to build a converter station because French electricity is different from ours. Further cables will be laid from this site to link in with the national electricity grid at Knockraha.