A GBP-700-million (USD 866.4m/EUR 805.8m) project envisaging the construction of a subsea power interconnector between Northern Ireland and Scotland is seeking a transmission license.
TI LirIC Ltd, a company wholly owned by Transmission Investment Holdings, is behind the scheme, which aims to deliver up to 700 MW of capacity between the Irish Single Electricity Market and the UK’s wholesale electricity market. The developer submitted a transmission license application with the Northern Ireland Utilities Regulator earlier in May.
Known as LirIC, the interconnector will link the Belfast region in Northern Ireland and the Ayrshire region in Scotland, using two converter stations. The total cable route will be around 130 km (80.8 miles).
According to the developer, the project will allow excess wind generation to be shared between markets, avoiding some 33 TWh of curtailments across the UK, Ireland and Northern Ireland, while lowering the likelihood of power outages. Its completion is planned for 2029.
Transmission Investment Holdings manages 4 GW of offshore transmission networks in the UK. The company is working on a plan to build a 1.4-GW subsea electricity link between its home country and France via the channel island of Alderney, its website shows.
A 500-MW interconnector, called Moyle, is already running between Scotland and Northern Ireland. The facility has been operated by Mutual Energy since 2001.
(GBP 1.0 = USD 1.238/EUR 1.151)
