26 October 2017. Commenting on the announcement on 24th October by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) [1] to direct EirGrid to progress to the next stage any grid connection applications for electricity interconnectors with a Project of Common Interest (PCI) [2] status, Mike O’Neill, CEO of Element Power [3], said;
“We are delighted with the decision by the Irish electricity regulator to instruct EirGrid to move forward with our grid application for Greenlink. This is one of the critical pieces in the jigsaw of a project with wide-ranging political support, technical feasibility and excellent value-for-money for consumers. We look forward to the CRU now prioritising the regulatory arrangements for this much-needed interconnection from Ireland to the UK to ensure we can continue to move through the next stage of development and enable this project to begin creating jobs and inward investment. It will also provide greater energy security for Ireland via access to UK and connected EU and Nordic electricity markets.”
Greenlink is a 170km interconnector stretching from Great Island in Co. Wexford to Pembroke in Wales. The link has a capacity of 500MW, equivalent to powering 380,000 homes [4] and is a €400m privately-financed initiative developed by Element Power. It will stimulate inward investment and jobs and result in savings for Irish electricity consumers of up to €800m over the project’s lifetime. Greenlink has so far secured a 500MW connection agreement with National Grid in Wales and a Cap & Floor decision from Ofgem.
Anna Stanford, Communications Consultant
anna.stanford@greenlink.ie +44 (0)7961 234634
[1] Policy for Electricity Interconnectors 24 October 2017: https://www.cru.ie/document_group/policy-for-electricity-interconnectors/.
[2] A 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.
[3] ABOUT ELEMENT POWER: Element Power is a European based energy company that develops, acquires, builds, finances and operates large-scale renewable generation, interconnection, storage and associated facilities. Active in seven countries with a deep pipeline of projects in development, the group has extensive experience and a successful track record in delivering energy projects in the low carbon sector. Element Power also manages the operation of over 280 MW of renewable energy assets for some of the leading investors in the sector. www.elpower.com www.greenlinkinterconnector.eu
[4] Based on annual household use of 4200kWh as per CRU’s decision paper published March 2017 following its review of typical consumption figures (CER: 7042) and total flows from UK to SEM of 1,600,000 MWh/year and from SEM to UK of 1,000,000 MWh/y.