Work under way on first 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."
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