Major milestone for the 500MW project between UK and Ireland
One of Europe’s most important infrastructure projects
On track to start construction phase in 2020 and operations in 2023
London, 24 August 2018 – Greenlink Interconnector Limited is inviting companies to express their interest to tender for construction of its 205km undersea electricity interconnector between the UK and Ireland. Greenlink is a privately-financed Project of Common Interest, making it one of Europe’s most important infrastructure projects.
A Contract Notice has been published today in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) [1] to commence procurement of the EPC contracts necessary for construction of the project. These will include the design, construction and maintenance of the undersea and underground HVDC cable system and the design, construction and maintenance of converter stations in Wexford, Ireland, and Pembrokeshire, Wales, where the interconnector will connect to the electricity grids.
Simon Ludlam, Project Director for Greenlink, said;
“This is a major milestone for the project and follows our recent market consultation with the supply chain over the summer.
We will run a competitive tender to drive down costs and ensure maximum benefit for consumers. In parallel we are running our subsea surveys that will determine the optimal cable route across the Irish Sea to inform the procurement process.
Greenlink is looking forward to a constructive dialogue with suppliers over the next year to select its preferred bidders and move to the award of contracts for the construction phase in 2020.”
The procurement process is being run by WSP on behalf of Greenlink Interconnector Limited. Applicants wishing to participate in the procurement process should email greenlink.procurement@wsp.com to request access to the initial procurement documents (the ‘Expression of Interest’ form and ‘Pre-Qualification Questionnaire’ (“PQQ”)). Applicants have until 12.00 (BST) on 12th October 2018 to submit a completed PQQ. Full details can be found in the PQQ document. Please see WSP’s privacy policy which will apply to any personal data submitted as part of the tender process.
About Greenlink:
Greenlink is a proposed 500MW, 205km subsea and underground high voltage direct current (HVDC) interconnector (with associated converter stations) between the existing electricity grids in Ireland and the UK, operated respectively by EirGrid and National Grid Electricity Transmission. It is being developed by Greenlink Interconnector Limited, a subsidiary of Element Power, and is due to commence construction in 2020. The project will link the Great Island transmission substation in County Wexford (Ireland) and Pembroke transmission substation in Pembrokeshire (Wales).
Greenlink has been recognised as a Project of Common Interest (PCI) [2] by the European Union following support received from both the Irish and UK governments. It has also received funding from the European Commission through the Connecting Europe Facility.
More details at on this website and at www.elpower.com
For media enquiries please contact:
Anna Stanford, Communications Consultant: anna.stanford@elpower.com Tel: +44 7961 234634
Notes to Editors
The Contract Notice reference is OJ S : 2018/S 162-371269 and can be found here: https://ted.europa.eu/TED/notice/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:371269-2018:TEXT:EN:HTMLA
PCI is a project that the European Commission has selected that will have a significant impact on energy markets and market integration in EU countries, boost competition on energy markets and help the EU’s energy security by diversifying sources, and contribute to the EU's climate and energy goals by integrating renewables. In November 2017, the Greenlink project was re-confirmed as a PCI by the European Commission. https://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/topics/infrastructure/projects-common-interest