The Irish High Court has upheld the planning approval for the southern element of the 400-kV North South Interconnector (NSI) project and ruled against the file which was lodged by locals opposed to the project, namely North East Pylon Pressure Campaign (NEPPC) and Maura Sheehy of Donaghpatrick. However, the NEPPC indicated that it will appeal the ruling which means that the project will still face legal and planning hurdles. The opponents are not against the interconnector, but want it put underground. However, Eirgrid does not want to choose this option, arguing it is too expensive and technically more challenging.
The €280m line will be built by the Irish national grid operator Eirgrid and has been approved by An Bord Pleanála (ABP) in December 2016. It is meant to connect the grids of Northern Ireland (UK) and Ireland. As of today, both sides of the island already have a 600 MW interconnection capacity.
The interconnection line is expected to spread over 138 km through the Monaghan, Cavan and Meath counties in Ireland, and Armagh and Tyrone counties in Northern Ireland. If the line is not completed before 2021, Northern Ireland might face possible power cuts.