On Tuesday 3 December, François Brottes, Chairman of the RTE management board and Mark Foley, Managing Director of EirGrid signed, with the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA), the European subsidy agreement for the France-Ireland Celtic interconnector project. The signing ceremony was attended by the representatives of the Member States, Kadri Simson, EU Commissioner for Energy and Ditte Juul-Jørgensen, Director General of the European Commission for Energy. By granting a subsidy of 530 million Euros to the project, the European Commission provides clear support for this major project for ecological transition.

Managed by RTE and its Irish counterpart Eirgrid, the purpose of this project is to set up an electrical interconnection of 575 km between France and Ireland. The underground and undersea connection will connect the Knockraha substation in Ireland (region of Cork) to the La Martyre substation in France (Finistère). The project should cost around a billion Euros. Supported by the French and Irish Governments and by the regulators in the two countries, the Celtic interconnector project has been recognised as a project of common interest (PCI) since 2013. By connecting Ireland to continental Europe through France, the Celtic interconnector will strengthen security of electricity supply of the countries connected and foster development of renewable energies.

Support of the European Commission for the project of electrical interconnection between France and Ireland constitutes a major step for construction of an increasingly more robust and consolidated electricity grid to support energy transition, announced François Brottes, Chairman of the RTE management board.

Construction of the Celtic interconnector should start in 2023, once the economic and environmental impact assessment of the project and the related public enquiry have been completed, with commissioning planned for 2026.

Press Release from RTE