Northern Ireland’s utility regulator has awarded Transmission Investment (TI) a transmission licence for the proposed LirIC Interconnector project.
The newly granted licence allows TI LirIC to participate in the transmission of energy in and out of integrated single energy market on the island of Ireland. This news represents a major milestone in the project development process, as a fundamental regulatory requirement has now been satisfied.
The LirIC Interconnector will connect Northern Ireland to the Ayrshire region of Scotland, via two 320kV high voltage direct current (HVDC) cables, each 142km in length. The expected commissioning year is currently 2032, and once completed the interconnector will have a cross-border capacity of 700MW.
Keith Morrison, project director for TI LirIC, said: “Securing the licence marks a significant step forward for our proposals. It comes a few weeks after Ofgem also decided to support the project through its Cap and Floor regime. We look forward to working collaboratively with both regulators to deliver this important UK infrastructure project.”
Ireland and interconnectors
Last year, 12% of Ireland’s electricity demand was met by interconnection, and several major projects are set to be connected in the coming months and years.
Currently, there are two established interconnectors between the island of Ireland and Great Britian, the Moyle Interconnector, which links Northern Ireland and Scotland, and the East-West Interconnector, linking the Republic of Ireland and Wales. In August, Sumitomo Electric Industries announced that installation on the Greenlink interconnector, also connecting Ireland and Wales, had been completed, with an expected commissioning date of late 2024, although limited further information on the project has been released since.
An additional interconnector between the Republic of Ireland and France, the 700MW Celtic Interconnector, is currently under construction and is set to come online in 2026. Once complete, the cable will link Knockraha in east Cork to the French network connection point in La Martyre, Finistère. The Celtic Interconnector is being developed by Irish firm EirGrid and French company RTE.
In May 2024, government ministers from Ireland, Belgium and the UK signed a joint statement to boost cooperation on offshore wind and interconnection, allowing for closer cooperation between the three nations to speed up offshore wind development and seeking to address challenges with interconnection. The work on this project is expected to be completed early in 2025.
