€750 million upgrade will improve electrical infrastructure - Eirgrid claim

€750 million upgrade will improve electrical infrastructure - Eirgrid


Rowan Gallagher

A SEMI-STATE owned company is willing to invest up to €750m in electricity infrastructure in North-West Mayo.
Eirgrid manages Ireland’s national electricity grid. They plan to upgrade the current electrical infrastructure in Mayo to harness a high concentration of untapped wind energy.
The project which would take over six years to complete could bring business and jobs to the area according to Eirgrid project manager, Aidan Corcoran.
Mr Corcoran, while addressing a Strategic Policy Committee meeting last week said he believes that Mayo has a major role to play in meeting the target set by Eirgrid of having 40 per cent of Irish energy produced from renewable sources.
“It is very important for Mayo... it is not possible for industry to set up here due to the lack of electricity infrastructure,” said Castlebar councillor, Al McDonnell.
Eirgrid is building an electricity interconnector between Ireland and England at a cost of €610m which will act as a hub for the import and export of electricity between Ireland and the UK.
“It is vital that proper infrastructure is put in place so Mayo can become a net exporter of electricity,” said Ballinrobe  Fine Gael Cllr Michael Burke.
Ballina Cllr Michelle Mulherin (pictured) is more sceptical of the idea saying that the project would take too long to happen and that the timing was ‘unsatisfactory’.
“I think what’s going to happen needs to happen sooner rather than later,” she said.
Furthermore, Cllr Mulherin went on to say that she doesn’t feel like everything is being done and that the urgency doesn’t seem to be there.
Mr Corcoran agrees that timing is a major issue but that Minister Eamon Ryan and the Cabinet are fully behind the project.
The development of Irish electrical infrastructure could lead to lower electricity prices for Irish consumers but Castlebar Cllr Eugene McCormack of Fine Gael believes that the rates per energy unit is far too low at almost 50 per cent of the price in the UK, making it unprofitable to produce electricity on a small scale.
The Eirgrid national plans of electrical infrastructure development have been met with widespread concerns expressed by landowners, local communities and farmers throughout Meath, Cavan and Monaghan with the respective County Councils objecting to the proposed developments.
The protestors advocate that the power lines should go underground but this is not feasible and simply isn’t an option because the underground cabling would be far too expensive, unreliable and undermine the effectiveness of the national grid, according to Mr Corcoran of Eirgrid.