A €530.7 million grant for the construction phase of the 700MW Celtic Interconnector Project has been formally signed.

The Celtic Interconnector is an EU Project of Common Interest (PCI) which will provide the first electricity interconnection between Ireland and France. The total length of the subsea interconnector will be  600km. It will enhance the security of supply for electricity users in both Ireland and France and help facilitate the transition to a low carbon energy future.

Works  started in September 2019 with the final commissioning scheduled for 2026. Two preparatory actions related to the Celtic Interconnector Project have also received EU funding from the Connecting Europe Facility. Feasibility  studies had a €3.5 million grant and pre-design & consultation phase studies recieved €4 milion (both 50% of the full cost).

The agreement was signed by INEA Director, Dirk Beckers and representatives of the Irish and French Transmission System Operators (TSOs) in the presence of Phil Hogan, Commissioner for Trade, Sean Canney, Minister of State for Natural Resources, Community Affairs and Digital Development of Ireland and Fabrice Dubreuil, Deputy Permanent Representative of France to the European Union.

The Connecting Europe facility has €5.35 billion for Projects of Common Interest in trans-European energy infrastructure for the 2014-2020 period. Its funding is used to help promote integration of the internal energy market, enhance security of energy supply and integrate energy from renewable sources.  In total, €3.8 billion of EU funding has been allocated to 96 PCIs so far.

 

Further reading

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