Power links in doubt over cost to UK

The UK electricity regulator is questioning the viability of two interconnectors between Britain and Ireland after research said the projects would cost the UK consumer £2.2 billion over 25 years.
The power links will cost €1.6 billion to build and are to be owned by London private equity firms. MaresConnect is a 750-megawatt project that would power 500,000 homes for a year. Its subsea cable would run between Dublin and Bodelwyddan, near Rhyl, north Wales.
Pat O’Doherty, a former ESB chief executive, is chairman of the company, which is owned by publicly listed Foresight Group. It plans to raise €860 million for construction of the interconnector.
Meanwhile LirIC’s proposed project, for a 700MW cable between Kilroot power station in Northern Ireland and Kilmarnock, Scotland, is also in question. It is backed by Transmission Investment, a specialist fund.
The Ofgem paper said its position is to reject a connection for both projects “based upon the negative total welfare impact on Great Britain”. The forecasts suggest Ireland will not decarbonise as quickly as the UK, which will lead to more demand on the UK energy system and increased prices for its citizens. The Ofgem document said wider benefits including security of supply “are modest and do not justify approving the project”. A final decision is still to be made.
Ireland is connected to the UK market via the East-West Interconnector, and Ofgem has given approval for the €1 billion 500MW Greenlink Interconnector. The Celtic Interconnector between Ireland and France is currently being built. It has cost the state €1.3 billion.