Deloitte to raise up to €300m for east-west power link

EIRGRID, THE State body that manages the national grid, has appointed Deloitte to raise up to €300 million to build the east-west electricity interconnector with Britain's national grid.

A firm led by the corporate finance arm of accountancy company Deloitte will now hold a funding competition to secure the finance for the interconnector.

The group, which includes law firm Arthur Cox, won a public tender and will also provide legal advice to EirGrid.

Work on the interconnector is expected to be completed by 2012.

The project will link the Irish and British electricity markets via cables running beneath the Irish Sea between the east coast of Ireland and Wales.

The east-west interconnector is important to Ireland's security of energy supply because it will allow the transmission system to import electricity from the British market when needed.

The interconnector, which will run to 250km in length, will have the capacity to move 500 megawatts - enough energy to power 300,000 homes - between the two islands.

This is significantly higher capacity than that of the largest Irish generating facilities.

John Fitzgerald, EirGrid project director for the east-west scheme, said the Deloitte-led consortium would act as an adviser on funding options that would minimise the interconnector's total costs over its lifecycle.

The consortium will co-ordinate the fundraising for the full cost of the project over the coming months.

Deloitte, which is one of the "Big Four" global accountancy firms, has long-term experience in the utility and power sectors, while Arthur Cox has been involved in most energy and resources sector developments in the Republic in recent years.

Connection points for the grid have been secured at Woodland, Co Meath, to Deeside in Wales, while a seabed study for the interconnector, which will use technology known as high voltage direct current, has already been completed.

A separate interconnector from Arklow, Co Wicklow, to north Wales is also being built by the private energy company Imera.

EirGrid chief executive Dermot Byrne said earlier this month that the interconnector was on track to be up and running by 2012.

With no new electricity generators coming on to the grid until 2009, electricity generation availability is expected to remain tight this winter.

Two new large generators in the Cork area are expected to add to generation capacity at the end of next year.

The State body, which has warned that major upgrades to the grid are needed if the Republic is to meet its renewable energy targets, is expected to publish its grid development strategy up to the year 2025 shortly.

The scheme is a major energy project considered vital to Ireland's energy supply security.

A proposal to transfer ownership of the national grid to EirGrid is under review.