Greenlink
| Greenlink Interconnector[1] | |
|---|---|
 County Wexford, Ireland and Pembrokeshire, Wales | |
| Location | |
| Country | Ireland, United Kingdom |
| General direction | east-west |
| From | Ireland |
| Passes through | St George's Channel |
| To | Wales |
| Construction information | |
| Commissioned | 29 January 2025 |
| Technical information | |
| Type | Submarine cable |
| Current type | HVDC |
| Total length | 190 km (120 mi) |
| Capacity | 500 MW |
| AC voltage | 400 kV (UK); 220 kV (Ireland) |
| DC voltage | 320 kV |
Greenlink is a 190 km long 500 MW high-voltage direct current (HVDC) submarine power cable between County Wexford in Ireland and Pembrokeshire in Wales.[2]
Route
[edit]The cable runs between EirGrid's Great Island substation in County Wexford, and National Grid's Pembroke substation in Pembrokeshire, with the cable making landfall at Baginbun Beach near Fethard-on-Sea in Ireland and at Freshwater West beach near Castlemartin in Wales. The total length is 200 km (120 miles), of which 160 km (100 miles) is under the sea.[3][1][4]
Specification
[edit]The HVDC link is configured as a symmetrical monopole, with DC voltages of ±320 kV, and nominal power rating of 500 MW. The project is expected to cost €400 million.[1]
Project history
[edit]Subsea surveys were undertaken in 2018, and public consultations in 2019.[3]
In 2026 it was widely reported that during the project design phase, the landfall at Freshwater West beach in Pembrokeshire had to be re-routed to avoid the fictional grave of Dobby the House Elf from the Harry Potter films.[5] [6]
In April 2020, the Greenlink Interconnector Limited submitted three planning applications for onshore construction in Wales.[7] The project still required planning permission and marine licences in both the United Kingdom and in Ireland, but the process of procuring construction contracts had started.[8][3]
In March 2021, the project was granted a licence to install the sea cable in UK waters, with a similar licence for Irish waters still pending. As of March 2021[update], commissioning of the interconnector was planned for the end of 2023.[9]
In January 2022, construction work on converter stations started.[10] In March 2022, the company announced that it had reached financial close,[11] and offshore construction commenced in May 2022.[10] Construction and trial operation was completed in August 2024,[12] with testing of the link commencing in December 2024 and full operations beginning on 29 January 2025.[13] The link was officially launched in April 2025.[14]
See also
[edit]
- Energy in Ireland
- Energy in the United Kingdom
- Electricity sector in Ireland
- Electricity sector in the United Kingdom
- Moyle Interconnector and East–West Interconnector, existing 500 MW interconnectors across the Irish Sea
- Celtic Interconnector, 700 MW cable project to connect Ireland and France
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 "Greenlink Interconnector". 4Coffshore. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
- ↑ "Greenlink Interconnector reaches financial close". greenlink.ie (Press release). 2022-03-21. Retrieved 2023-09-07.
- 1 2 3 "The Project: Overview". Greenlink Interconnector. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
- ↑ "TEN-E Regulation Information Brochure Issue 3" (PDF). Greenlink. June 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
- ↑ Andy Gourlay; Paul Pigott (9 August 2026). "Harry Potter fans force diversion of UK-Ireland power link to avoid Dobby's grave". BBC News - Wales. BBC. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
- ↑ Helena Horton (10 August 2026). "Harry Potter fans force relocation of £430m undersea cable to avoid Dobby's 'grave'". News. The Guardian. Retrieved 13 August 2026.
- ↑ "Greenlink interconnector submits planning applications for onshore works in Wales". Greenlink. 22 April 2020. Archived from the original on 4 June 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
- ↑ Connolly, Philip (17 March 2019). "Element Power's Greenlink interconnector energises Partners Group". The Sunday Times. London. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
- ↑ Russell, Tom (2021-03-03). "Greenlink gets the greenlight from Natural Resources Wales". coffshore.com. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
- 1 2 "Construction begins on converter station for €400m Greenlink Interconnector". 2022-02-02. Retrieved 2022-03-19.
- ↑ "Greenlink Interconnector reaches financial close". Greenlink Interconnector – Press releases. Greenlink. 21 March 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
- ↑ "Sumitomo completes Greenlink cable system". 2024-08-23. Retrieved 2024-08-24.
- ↑ "James O'Reilly on LinkedIn: #greenlink #siemensenergy #sumitomoelectric #wsp | 95 comments". www.linkedin.com. Retrieved 2025-02-02.
- ↑ Lee, George (2025-04-16). "Ireland-Wales electricity interconnector up and running". RTÉ. Retrieved 2025-04-27.