The East–West
Interconnector is a 500MW
high-voltage direct current
A high-voltage direct current (HVDC) electric power transmission system (also called a power superhighway or an electrical superhighway) uses direct current (DC) for electric power transmission, in contrast with the more common alternating curre ...
submarine and subsoil power cable which connects the Irish and British electricity markets. The project was developed by the Irish national grid operator
EirGrid.
Aim
The interconnector is aimed to increase competition and security of supply, and better use the capacity of wind energy.
[ The additional capacity headroom provided by the interconnection will assist in reducing the Electricity Supply Board's dominant position in the Irish electricity market. By joining the two markets it will allow Irish suppliers to access power in the British mainland market and for British suppliers to enter the Irish market without initially having to commit to large capital expenditure, significantly reducing barriers to entry. Irish renewable generators will benefit from the interconnection as it will increase their available market and may make it more economically attractive to construct more large scale renewable generation.
ESB Power Generation announced in 2007 its intention to withdraw approximately 1,300MW of capacity by 2010. This would effectively reduce the installed capacity of fully dispatchable plant from 6,437MW to 5,150MW. This closure of older inefficient power plants, such as a 461 MW fossil fuel capacity at ]Poolbeg Generating Station
Poolbeg Generating Station ( ga, Cumhachtstáisiún an Phoill Bhig), colloquially known as The Poolbeg Stacks, is a power station owned and operated by the Electricity Supply Board of Ireland (ESB). There are two stations on the site, the olde ...
Dublin, and coupled with the high growth demand forecasts presented, created a major threat to the security of the Irish electricity grid.[
]
The interconnection will enhance security of supply and grid stability on both countries and create conditions suitable for the development of a new regional market. The European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...
expressed the view that European electricity markets would benefit from further interconnection investments. The EU Trans-European Networks
The Trans-European Networks (TEN) were created by the European Union by Articles 154–156 of the Treaty of Rome (1957), with the stated goals of the creation of an internal market and the reinforcement of economic and social cohesion. To various ...
project has classified the UKIrish Interconnector as a priority project.
Location
At in length, of which is beneath the Irish Sea, the East West Interconnector links the electricity transmission grids of Ireland and Great Britain, from converter stations at Portan in Ireland to Shotton in Wales.
History
Studies for the UKIrish interconnection date back to the 1970s when the Irish Electricity Supply Board first examined the possibility of linking the UK and Irish electricity grid
An electrical grid is an interconnected network for electricity delivery from producers to consumers. Electrical grids vary in size and can cover whole countries or continents. It consists of:Kaplan, S. M. (2009). Smart Grid. Electrical Power ...
s. Further studies were conducted in the early 1990s and a joint study was recently conducted between Electricity Supply Board and National Grid plc with the support of the European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
.
In 2004 the Commission for Energy Regulation on request of the Irish Government sought proposals from the private sector to construct two 500MW merchant interconnectors between Ireland and Wales. A private project was established by Imera Power who was contracted to develop two 350MW interconnectors through its affiliate East West Cable One Ltd. in 2006.
In 2006 the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, instructed the Commission for Energy Regulation to commence the development of a regulated interconnector of 500MW as it was deemed to be critical infrastructure.
Eirgrid commenced work on the East West Interconnector in 2007. It was completed in 2012 and on 20 September 2012 it was inaugurated in Meath by UK secretary for energy and climate change Ed Davey
Sir Edward Jonathan Davey (born 25 December 1965) is a British politician who has served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats since 2020. He served in the Cameron–Clegg coalition as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change from 2012 ...
, Irish prime minister Enda Kenny
Enda Kenny (born 24 April 1951) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2011 to 2017, Leader of Fine Gael from 2002 to 2017, Minister for Defence from May to July 2014 and 2016 to 2017, Leader of the Opposition from ...
and European Commissioner for Energy Günther Oettinger
Günther Hermann Oettinger (born 15 October 1953) is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as European Commissioner for Budget and Human Resources from 2017 to 2019, as European Commissioner for Digit ...
.
On 8 September 2016, the interconnector had a fault that occurred during an annual maintenance at the converter station in Meath. The maintenance was carried out by contractor ABB. The interconnector re-entered service on 20 December 2016 with a fully rated 500MW import, however exports to the UK were still limited to roughly 280MW.Eirgrid All Island Interconnection
''smartgriddashboard.eirgrid.com'' , the cable offered full capacity in both directions. In March 2022, following a planned 3 week shutdown, the interconnector remained at below 1% capacity for an ongoing period.
Technical features
The Eirgrid East–West Interconnector has a total length of , of which is submarine cable and is subsoil cable. The link connects converter stations at
Rush North Beach,
County Dublin
"Action to match our speech"
, image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg
, map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...
, Ireland, and Barkby Beach,
Prestatyn
Prestatyn is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire, Wales. Historically a part of Flintshire, it is located on the Irish Sea coast, to the east of Rhyl. Prestatyn has a population of 19,085,
History Prehistory
There is evidence that ...
, Wales. The interconnection uses ±200kV HVDC Light cables with a capacity of 500MW. It is the first HVDC Light transmission system project, to use ±200kV cables. The cables and converter stations were provided by
ABB
ABB Ltd. is a Swedish- Swiss multinational corporation headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland. The company was formed in 1988 when Sweden's Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget (ASEA) and Switzerland's Brown, Boveri & Cie merged to crea ...
.
[
] The project was financed by a €300million loan from the
European Investment Bank, capital investments from commercial banks, EirGrid equity and a €110million grant from the European Commission.
East West Cable One project - abandoned proposal
A competing project was undertaken by East West Cable One (EW1), also known as the East West Interconnector. The EW1 cable with a capacity of 350MW was to be connected at
Arklow
Arklow (; ; , ) is a town in County Wicklow on the southeast coast of Ireland. The town is overlooked by Ballymoyle Hill. It was founded by the Vikings in the ninth century. Arklow was the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the 1798 re ...
substation in
County Wicklow and Pentir Substation near
Bangor in North Wales. The second cable known as EW2 was a second phase project with a capacity of 350500MW was proposed between
Wexford
Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 ...
and
Pembroke.
Both developments were to be funded by the private sector on commercial basis; their costs would not be recovered by system tariffs for all end users in either UK or Ireland, but rather by the users of the cable, large wholesale energy traders. Corresponding exemption from the third party access rule was granted by the
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...
on 23 November 2009 for 25years for phase one and 20years for phase two.
[
]
Since 2016, the associated websites for these projects have been mothballed.
Eirgrid Interconnector sites
See also
*
Moyle Interconnector
The Moyle Interconnector is a 500megawatt HVDC link between Scotland and Northern Ireland, running between Auchencrosh in Ayrshire and Ballycronan More in County Antrim. It went into service in 2001 and is owned and operated by Mutual Energy.
...
*
Western HVDC Link
*
Greenlink
References
External links
East–West Interconnector (EirGrid)
Way of the cable* http://www.abb.com/industries/ap/db0003db004333/a60fb5e59414e817c125774a002f365b.aspx
Elexon/BMRS changes to accommodate flows in stats as INTEW
{{DEFAULTSORT:East-West Interconnector
Electrical interconnectors to and from Great Britain
Electrical interconnectors to and from the island of Ireland
Electric power infrastructure in Wales
Electric power infrastructure in the Republic of Ireland
Ireland–United Kingdom relations
Energy infrastructure completed in 2012
2012 establishments in Ireland
2012 establishments in Wales