Greenlink

Greenlink was the first privately financed interconnector in Europe to be supported under the cap and floor regimes of both the UK and Ireland, according to offshore-energy.biz’s report on its launch. The regime sets a minimum and maximum revenue for the owner, and consumers cover the gap if earnings fall below the floor. Partners Group owns the link; EirGrid and National Grid are the grid operators at each end.

The 190 km route runs between EirGrid’s Great Island substation in County Wexford and National Grid’s Pembroke substation in Pembrokeshire. In Ireland the cable comes ashore at Baginbun Beach, near Fethard-on-Sea. In Wales it lands at Freshwater West, near Castlemartin. About 160 km of the route is under the sea.

The project moved through its approvals at a steady pace. Seabed surveys took place in 2018, public consultation in 2019, planning applications went in during April 2020 and the UK marine licence was granted in March 2021. Converter station construction began in January 2022, financial close came in March 2022 and offshore work started that May. Construction and trials were complete in August 2024, testing began that December, and commercial operation started on 29 January 2025, with an official launch in April 2025. The cost was €400 million, per the Greenlink article.

Siemens Energy and Sumitomo Electric built it as a symmetrical monopole at ±320 kV. Most sources rate it at 500 MW; the commercial-operation announcement said 504 MW.

Power can flow either way, depending on which market is short. With the East-West Interconnector and Moyle, Greenlink is one of three links between the Irish and British systems, and the Celtic Interconnector to France is next. One detail from Pembrokeshire: in 2026 it was reported that the Freshwater West landfall had been routed to avoid a grave on the beach, the fictional one of a Harry Potter character.