Eirgrid reveals layout plans for Celtic Interconnector in East Cork
A section of the 575km Celtic Interconnector on board one of the vessels laying it on subsea path between Youghal and Brittany, France. The seabed cable will make landfall at Claycastle beach, Youghal.
The upgrade of the main Carrigtwohill to Midleton (N25) road in east Cork will never go ahead if the Celtic Interconnector cables are laid along its entire length.
That is according to Eirgrid officials, who have for the first time provided more definite timelines on the construction programme. They revealed they expect to start laying down the cable in Cork next year and have given some specifics on when and where the work will be carried out.
More than 1,000km of cable is to be laid between northern France and Ireland - the vast majority of which will be on the seabed – and this will augment the country’s electricity supply in the years ahead.
Shane Cooney, Eirgrid’s onshore project manager, said the remainder of the €1bn funding for the project from the EU is expected to be sanctioned by the winter, enabling work to get underway early next year on the Irish side.
The seabed cable will make landfall at Claycastle beach, Youghal. From there it will follow the N25 as far as the Two Mile Inn, to the east of Midleton, with minor diversions on the route around the villages of Killeagh and Castlemartyr.
Once the cable gets to the Two Mile Inn, it will be diverted away from the main road, skirting to the north of Midleton and onto the former Amgen site at Carrigtwohill from its northern side. A converter station is to be built there as the French will be sending the current in DC form.
Mr Cooney said this is the most efficient way to transmit it and it will then be converted back into AC current, which is used here, and cabled on to connect with the national grid at Knockraha.
He said laying cable alongside the N25 from Carrigtwohill to Midleton now would inhibit the future upgrade of the road, which has been put on hold due to the current lack of government funding for the project. Mr Cooney added that TII (Transport Infrastructure Ireland) officials held the same view as Eirgrid.
Mr Cooney said earthworks will start at the Amgen site in 2023 and roadworks to enable cable-laying will get underway on the rural roads between there and the Two Mile Inn during 2023 and into 2024.
However, he added that cable trenching works on the side of roads along the whole Youghal – Knockraha route could go on until 2026.
People living on some of the rural roads north of Midleton and Carrigtwohill have said they fear their lives will be significantly impacted by the work, which Fine Gael councillor Sinead Sheppard pointed out to Mr Cooney.
He replied Eirgrid will appoint community liaison officers to ensure school runs, creamery tanker drivers, home helps, festivals organisers, etc will be advised of any disruption in advance.
Fianna Fáil councillor Sheila O’Callaghan said Eirgrid “need to make life as comfortable as possible for all involved” and that other utility companies had left roads in a less than desirable state after working on them.
Mr Cooney said this would not happen, maintaining many of the roads in the area are in poor condition, and it “will be a plus” for locals when they're resurfaced following the cable-laying.
Michelle Walsh, Eirgrid’s senior community liaison officer, said a community benefit scheme will be opened to provide money for worthy projects in the areas impacted.
She said that the community fund will be administered through the independent East Cork development agency Secad.
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