| Greenlink Interconnector1 | |
|---|---|
 County Wexford, Ireland and Pembrokeshire, Wales | |
| Location | |
| Country | Ireland, United Kingdom |
| General direction | east-west |
| From | Ireland |
| Passes through | St George's Channel |
| To | Wales |
| Construction information | |
| Commissioned | 29 January 2025 |
| Technical information | |
| Type | Submarine cable |
| Type of current | HVDC |
| Total length | 190 km (120 mi) |
| Power rating | 500 MW |
| AC voltage | 400 kV (UK); 220 kV (Ireland) |
| DC voltage | 320 kV |
Greenlink is a 190 km long 500 MW high-voltage direct current (HVDC) submarine power cable between County Wexford in Ireland and Pembrokeshire in Wales.2
Route
The cable runs between EirGrid's Great Island substation in County Wexford, and National Grid's Pembroke substation in Pembrokeshire, with the cable making landfall at Baginbun Beach near Fethard-on-Sea in Ireland and at Freshwater West beach near Castlemartin in Wales. The total length is 200 km (120 miles), of which 160 km (100 miles) is under the sea.314
Specification
The HVDC link is configured as a symmetrical monopole, with DC voltages of ±320 kV, and nominal power rating of 500 MW. The project is expected to cost €400 million.1
Project history
Subsea surveys were undertaken in 2018, and public consultations in 2019.3
In April 2020, the Greenlink Interconnector Limited submitted three planning applications for onshore construction in Wales.5 The project still required planning permission and marine licences in both the United Kingdom and in Ireland, but the process of procuring construction contracts had started.63
In March 2021, the project was granted a licence to install the sea cable in UK waters, with a similar licence for Irish waters still pending. As of March 2021, commissioning of the interconnector was planned for the end of 2023.7
In January 2022, construction work on converter stations started.8 In March 2022, the company announced that it had reached financial close,9 and offshore construction commenced in May 2022.8 Construction and trial operation was completed in August 2024,10 with testing of the link commencing in December 2024 and full operations beginning on 29 January 2025.11 The link was officially launched in April 2025.12
See also
See also
- Energy in Ireland
- Energy in the United Kingdom
- Electricity sector in Ireland
- Electricity sector in the United Kingdom
- Moyle Interconnector and East–West Interconnector, existing 500 MW interconnectors across the Irish Sea
- Celtic Interconnector, 700 MW cable project to connect Ireland and France
References
References
- "Greenlink Interconnector". 4Coffshore. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
- "Greenlink Interconnector reaches financial close". greenlink.ie (Press release). 2022-03-21. Retrieved 2023-09-07.
- "The Project: Overview". Greenlink Interconnector. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
- "TEN-E Regulation Information Brochure Issue 3" (PDF). Greenlink. June 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
- "Greenlink interconnector submits planning applications for onshore works in Wales". Greenlink. 22 April 2020. Archived from the original on 4 June 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
- Connolly, Philip (17 March 2019). "Element Power's Greenlink interconnector energises Partners Group". The Sunday Times. London. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
- Russell, Tom (2021-03-03). "Greenlink gets the greenlight from Natural Resources Wales". coffshore.com. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
- "Construction begins on converter station for €400m Greenlink Interconnector". 2022-02-02. Retrieved 2022-03-19.
- "Greenlink Interconnector reaches financial close". Greenlink Interconnector – Press releases. Greenlink. 21 March 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
- "Sumitomo completes Greenlink cable system". 2024-08-23. Retrieved 2024-08-24.
- "James O'Reilly on LinkedIn: #greenlink #siemensenergy #sumitomoelectric #wsp | 95 comments". www.linkedin.com. Retrieved 2025-02-02.
- Lee, George (2025-04-16). "Ireland-Wales electricity interconnector up and running". RTÉ. Retrieved 2025-04-27.