Siemens Energy delivers grid transformers for Ireland-Wales interconnector

Siemens Energy has delivered four grid transformers for the 500 MW Greenlink subsea and underground electricity interconnector that will link Ireland and Wales.

The four 160-ton grid transformers were transported by sea from Nuremberg, Germany, to Belview Port Waterford in Ireland in order to avoid traffic disruption on local roads, and were then transferred by barge to the jetty at Great Island Power Station. The operation was completed in August.

According to Greenlink Interconnector, the converter station’s external cladding, designed to reduce visual impact, is also in place with further landscaping and tree planting to be completed next year.

The main civil construction activities at the converter station site at Great Island are now complete and installation of the electrical equipment has begun.

Furthermore, cable laying on public roads resumed in September along the 19.5-kilometer route between Baginbun Beach and Great Island following a pause during July and August to avoid the peak tourist season.

The works site at the project landfall has been reinstated following the installation of two horizontal directional drill (HDD) duct pipes in May, which will allow the subsea cables to be pulled through from the cable laying vessel, commencing in March 2024 and managed by Jan de Nul.

Cable burial will follow and all offshore work is scheduled to be completed by June 2024.

Greenlink Interconnector Ltd. stated that the construction is proceeding well and the project is on track, with system testing set to begin in the summer of 2024 and commissioning by the end of the year.