Electricity project to invest €240m in Mayo region

STATE AGENCY Eirgrid has appointed Tobin Consulting Engineers to lead a consortium to work on the first phase of a €240 million development project in the west of Ireland.

Eirgrid has appointed Tobin, PR agency Drury and URS Scott Wilson to provide engineering, environmental, planning and communications services for the development of the electricity grid in the west region – a project dubbed “Grid West”.

Eirgrid is an independent entity that manages the national grid, the network that transmits electricity from power plants to the distribution system.

It is planning a €3.2 billion redevelopment of the grid between now and 2025.

The Grid West project is part of this and will see €240 million invested in the network in Mayo and surrounding counties.

The work will involve strengthening existing infrastructure in the west. One of the main aims of the exercise is to underpin the region’s ability to attract investment that will lead to the creation of new jobs.

Eirgrid intends to seek planning permission for the redevelopment of the grid in the west in 2015.

The contract that it has awarded to the Tobin-led consortium will lay the groundwork for this.

Tobin Consulting Engineers has offices in Galway, Dublin and Castlebar. The firm has managed some of the largest engineering projects in Ireland.

Recently, it worked on national grid reinforcement projects in Cork, Kerry and the midlands.

Along with that, it has worked on a wide range of general infrastructure and construction projects for the public and private sectors.

URS Scott Wilson is a local subsidiary of San Francisco-based multinational engineering and infrastructure group URS.

It has offices in Belfast, Cork, Derry and Dublin. Worldwide, it has particular experience in electricity transmission systems.

Drury is one of the biggest public relations consultancies in the country. Its clients include public companies such as building materials group CRH and bookmaker Paddy Power.

Eirgrid said that the firm will support the implementation of its comprehensive public consultative process.

The State agency awarded the contract after a public tendering process.