Element Power's affiliate Greenlink Interconnector has invited bidders to express their interest to tender for the construction of the 500 MW Greenlink HVDC interconnector project between Ireland and the United Kingdom. Tenders will be sought on the design, construction and maintenance of the main line and the associated converter stations.
The interconnection line would spread across 170 km between the Great Island substation in the Wexford county (Ireland) to Pembrokeshire, in Wales (United Kingdom). The project will be laid between the existing power grids operated respectively by EirGrid and National Grid Electricity Transmission. The construction may begin in 2020 while operations startup is currently expected for 2023.
In October 2017, the Irish Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU, formerly known as Commission for Energy Regulation) issued a direction to EirGrid as the Transmission System Operator (TSO) to start processing grid connection applications from electricity interconnectors with PCI (Project of Common Interest) status. CRU started to assess the project in March 2018 and its final decision is expected to be taken in 2019.