Ireland edges forward with plan to export wind power to UK
Ambitious plans to connect up to 40 onshore wind farms in Ireland directly to the UK’s electricity grid have taken a major step forward, after renewables developer Element Power today signed a grid connection agreement with National Grid.
The move raises the prospect that today’s delay by the British government to a crucial decision on renewable energy subsidies could provide a major boost to Ireland’s burgeoning wind energy industry.
The proposed grid connection via two planned subsea cables would give Element Power access to up to 3,000MW of transmission capacity, allowing it to export electricity from wind farms in mid-Ireland directly to the UK.
Dubbed the Greenwire project, Element Power estimates the ambitious £7bn plan could provide the UK with up to 10 terawatt hours of clean electricity each year, representing a tenth of the total the UK will need to meet its renewable energy targets.
It added that the projects would create up to 10,000 jobs during construction and 3,000 operational and manufacturing jobs.
“National Grid is delighted to be signing this grid connection agreement for 3,000 megawatts with Greenwire,” said Julian Leslie, head of electricity customer services at National Grid Transmission, in a statement. “This agreement will break new ground by connecting wind generation in Ireland directly to the UK transmission system. We are looking forward to working together with Element Power as we move forward with this unique piece of infrastructure.”
Tim Cowhig, chief executive for Element Power Ireland, said that the “UK energy requirement has become Ireland’s opportunity, it makes perfect sense to capitalise on our geographic location and create an export industry”.
He added that the company had already been working for two years to identify potential wind farm sites and was in talks with local authorities and land owners about moving forward with the plan.
“This is an important step in enabling the project and helping us to meet our target of exporting renewable energy to the UK by 2018,” he said. “We also spent considerable effort identifying the best grid points in Wales, and we designed our project to match the capacity available. Our connections are not triggering any new overhead line reinforcements in the UK, and this gives us confidence that we can connect by 2018, in time to help the UK meet their 2020 targets.”
A spokeswoman for Element Power confirmed that in addition to talking to local authorities and preparing planning applications, the company was also currently in the process of raising capital for the £7bn project.
The news comes a month after UK Energy Minister Charles Hendry met with his Irish counterpart Pat Rabbitte and agreed to work on a memorandum of understanding on how the two countries can sco-operate on renewable energy development.
The proposals will also feed in to the government’s wider plans for a northern European supergrid that will use long distance high voltage transmission cables to connect renewable energy projects across the continent, helping to reduce emissions and boost reliability in the process.
The move raises the prospect that today’s delay by the British government to a crucial decision on renewable energy subsidies could provide a major boost to Ireland’s burgeoning wind energy industry.
The proposed grid connection via two planned subsea cables would give Element Power access to up to 3,000MW of transmission capacity, allowing it to export electricity from wind farms in mid-Ireland directly to the UK.
Dubbed the Greenwire project, Element Power estimates the ambitious £7bn plan could provide the UK with up to 10 terawatt hours of clean electricity each year, representing a tenth of the total the UK will need to meet its renewable energy targets.
It added that the projects would create up to 10,000 jobs during construction and 3,000 operational and manufacturing jobs.
“National Grid is delighted to be signing this grid connection agreement for 3,000 megawatts with Greenwire,” said Julian Leslie, head of electricity customer services at National Grid Transmission, in a statement. “This agreement will break new ground by connecting wind generation in Ireland directly to the UK transmission system. We are looking forward to working together with Element Power as we move forward with this unique piece of infrastructure.”
Tim Cowhig, chief executive for Element Power Ireland, said that the “UK energy requirement has become Ireland’s opportunity, it makes perfect sense to capitalise on our geographic location and create an export industry”.
He added that the company had already been working for two years to identify potential wind farm sites and was in talks with local authorities and land owners about moving forward with the plan.
“This is an important step in enabling the project and helping us to meet our target of exporting renewable energy to the UK by 2018,” he said. “We also spent considerable effort identifying the best grid points in Wales, and we designed our project to match the capacity available. Our connections are not triggering any new overhead line reinforcements in the UK, and this gives us confidence that we can connect by 2018, in time to help the UK meet their 2020 targets.”
A spokeswoman for Element Power confirmed that in addition to talking to local authorities and preparing planning applications, the company was also currently in the process of raising capital for the £7bn project.
The news comes a month after UK Energy Minister Charles Hendry met with his Irish counterpart Pat Rabbitte and agreed to work on a memorandum of understanding on how the two countries can sco-operate on renewable energy development.
The proposals will also feed in to the government’s wider plans for a northern European supergrid that will use long distance high voltage transmission cables to connect renewable energy projects across the continent, helping to reduce emissions and boost reliability in the process.
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