Celtic Interconnector delay due to technical difficulties – Taoiseach

Micheál Martin tells Dáil that EirGrid officials informed him of the expected delays during an event at the French Film Festival in Cork

Offshore support vessel Aethra, which is working on the Celtic Interconnector project, berthed on Horgan’s Quay, Cork earlier this month. Ireland’s first electricity link to continental Europe has been delayed by two years. Picture: David Creedon

The long-awaited Celtic Interconnector has been delayed due to “technical difficulties”, the Taoiseach has told the Dáil.

As reported by the 'Irish Examiner', the Irish-French interconnector is due to be delayed by two years, which could compound rapidly rising electricity prices. The energy cable connecting Cork to Brittany received €530m in EU funding in 2019 and was set to “go live” in 2026.

The Celtic Interconnector is a joint project of EirGrid and its French equivalent, Réseau de Transport d’Electricité (RTE), and is Ireland’s first electricity cable to the EU.

On its website, EirGrid says the project’s commissioning date is now “expected for Q4, 2028”.

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Work has begun on the €1bn 575km subsea Celtic Interconnector between East Cork in Ireland and Brittany in France. File picture

In the Dáil, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that he had been advised by EirGrid in recent weeks that the project could be delayed.

He told the Dáil that he would ask EirGrid to provide a briefing to politicians on the connector.

“I did meet informally, just at a different event, EirGrid and the French Embassy, and they were indicating there were technical issues,” the Taoiseach said.

“My understanding was that it would be finished next year. When I met them about three or four weeks ago — it was at the French Film Festival in Cork and EirGrid officials were there because they were sponsoring it — they indicated to me that there were difficulties of a technical nature that could delay it somewhat.”

Fianna Fáil TD Malcolm Byrne said that he was “stunned” last week when he could not be told when the interconnector would be finished.

He said the Government had to be “realistic” on whether this would impact Ireland’s ability to meet its offshore energy targets.

Jennifer Whitmore of the Social Democrats said the interconnector to France is required to “export electricity, but also in the event that we need to import it”, as she queried why it was delayed.

• Louise Burne, Political Correspondent