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RTÉ News
39 minutes ago
- RTÉ News
Work under way on first interconnector between Ireland and mainland Europe
Work has begun to lay the underwater cable for the first electricity interconnector between Ireland and mainland Europe. It marks a major milestone in the €1.6 billion Celtic Interconnecter project, which will link the electricity grids of Ireland and France to ensure security of power supply. A specialist marine vessel Calypso, from Norway, has begun cable laying along a 84km section of the route. Once fully installed, the entire 575km interconnector will run from east Cork to the northwest of Brittany. It will allow for the exchange of 700MW of electricity - enough to power some 450,000 homes. The high voltage direct current (HVDC) cable is being laid onto the seabed by the crew of the Calpso, with burial works done by two further vessels. Being weather sensitive, the work is being carried out in summer. The ship is fitted with a carousel on deck but also with a second, below-deck cable carousel, with a total cable carrying capacity of 8,000 tonnes. Marine survey teams have already mapped the seabed in advance of the works to chart the best route for the cable. The project, co-funded by the EU Connecting Europe Fund, is being developed with Eirgrid and its French equivalent, Réseau de Transport d'Electricité. Construction first began in 2023 and the project is expected to be operational by the Spring of 2028. Extensive preparation works and ducting has been undertaken at Claycastle beach where the HVDC cable will make landfall at Youghal. Cable installation work has already been carried out along roadsides and through fields to transfer the electricity from Claycastle beach to a major converter station near Carrigtwohill. High voltage direct current (HVDC) arriving from France will be converted in Ireland to high voltage alternating current (HVAC) for use in the Irish network and vice versa for power that is exported to France. Essential onshore cable ducting works at Claycastle beach, where the HVDC cable comes ashore, was completed in March and reinstatement works are currently nearing completion. Between the beach and the converter station at Carrigtwohill, 97% of trenching and ducting is complete. Preparations are under way for the arrival later this month of three massive transformers, each 200 tonnes in weight, for installation at the converter station. HVAC cable has also been installed between the converter station site and the Knockraha substation, which feeds to the national grid 10km away. EirGrid's Onshore Project Manager Shane Cooney said the project has been in development for over 10 years and in construction for nearly three years. Now, he said, it is at a very important stage. Mr Cooney said the project is of "national significance", adding it is also important on a European level. He said: "It has secured European funding of over €500 million for the project and that is based on the fact that the project will deliver a connection between Ireland and the European Union with its power grids, which will led to balancing of power prices across the European grid. "It promotes the development of renewals on the grid giving us the pathway to be able to export excess renewables when we have them and it also gives us security of supply."
Agriland
4 hours ago
- Agriland
Dairy breeding elite set for Cavan as Baileys Champion Cow returns
Some of the best Holstein Friesian genetics in Ireland will be on show at this year's Diageo Baileys Champion Dairy Cow Competition, taking place at the Virginia Show on Wednesday, August 20. According to competition co-ordinator Patrick Gaynor, it is not just the €13,000 prize fund that has attracted a strong response from breeders across Ireland this year. Gaynor mentioned that 28 cows are entered, including a record eight coming from four Northern Irish counties - Antrim, Armagh, Derry, and Down - with other exhibitors travelling from as far away as counties Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Tipperary. He also paid tribute to the support of both the Irish Holstein Friesian Association and Holstein Northern Ireland (NI), crediting the warm welcome and the prestige of the 'Baileys Cow' title as the main draw for exhibitors. 'The welcome competitors receive from the organisers and sponsors as well as the prestige of even taking part in a competition as well known as 'the Baileys' is I believe what makes it special.' Now in its fifth decade, the competition continues to be one of the most sought-after titles in the pedigree dairy community, backed by one of the longest-running sponsorship partnerships in Irish agriculture – between Diageo, owner of Baileys Irish Cream, and its cream supplier Tirlán. The cream for Baileys is produced down the road from the showgrounds at Tirlán's Virginia site, making the event a showcase for the global brand's Irish provenance. Judging duties this year will fall to Italian breeder Giuseppe Beltramino from northern Italy. MC duties will once again be handled by Michael Taffe. Proceedings get underway at 3.00pm, preceded by a parade of the Holstein Friesians entering the main ring. A special VIP guest will join Diageo Ireland's corporate relations director Shane Kelly and Tirlán chairperson John Murphy to present the top prize and the Virginia Milk Products Cup trophy.
Agriland
4 hours ago
- Agriland
Tight beef supply situation expected to continue into 2026
The situation of reduced beef supplies is expected to continue into 2026, according to Bord Bia senior manager of meat and livestock, Joe Burke. Speaking at a Kepak event on the farm of suppliers Brian and Noelle O'Keeffe in Glanworth, Co. Cork, on Wednesday, August 13, Burke set out the current state of play in global beef markets. Responding to a question from Agriland on Bord Bia's beef market outlook in the short to medium-term, he said: "We are likely to see that relatively tight supply situation continue on into the year end and on into 2026 as well." He noted that the "very high price point at the moment is very welcome in terms of the level of positivity that it's after injecting into the sector". "It's being felt all the way through from the farmers who are selling reared calves and runners all the way through to weanlings, store and finished animals. It's a great time for the sector." The Bord Bia senior manager said: "In the last month or two, price has really been pushed on as a result of this really tight supply that we're seeing." He said that factors including lower calf registrations and higher cattle exports are attributing to the drop in cattle numbers domestically and also said that the trend of falling cattle numbers is also being seen in the key markets Ireland is exporting beef into. On cattle numbers, he said: "There's no sign of any recovery in terms of supply in the UK or even in the continental markets." He highlighted that recent outbreaks of bluetongue in some European countries have hit the fertility rates of the breeding suckler and dairy cows in the affected countries. "Bluetongue has had an impact. There have been less calf registrations in Europe because it has impacted the fertility of dairy and suckler herds in those countries where that has been an issue." "Seeing those growing alternative options for stock being exported live, whether it be to Northern Ireland or even Europe or North Africa or Europe in recent years that has resulted in a tightening of the available pool of animals coming through, has definitely had a knock-on impact," he noted.
