{"id":421364,"date":"2026-04-28T08:55:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T08:55:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/421364\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T08:55:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T08:55:07","slug":"milestone-reached-in-celtic-interconnector-project-linking-france-and-ireland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/421364\/","title":{"rendered":"Milestone reached in Celtic Interconnector project linking France and Ireland"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Work has been completed on the main construction of the Ar Merzher converter station in Brittany.<\/p>\n<p>French infrastructure group NGE, in partnership with Siemens Energy, has today (28 April) announced the completion of the main construction works of the Ar Merzher converter station in Brittany, on behalf of transmission system operators R\u00e9seau de Transport d\u2019Electricit\u00e9 (RTE) and EirGrid.<\/p>\n<p>The station is a critical component of the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.siliconrepublic.com\/innovation\/celtic-interconnector-agreement-ireland-france\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Celtic Interconnecter<\/a>, a first of its kind and critical project connecting electricity grids in Cork and France\u2019s Brittany via subsea cables. The project will create a 575 km link between the regions with a 700 MW exchange capacity, which is equivalent to the electricity needs of around 450,000 households.<\/p>\n<p>The aim of the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.siliconrepublic.com\/machines\/cable-laying-for-the-e1bn-celtic-interconnector-begins\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Celtic Interconnector project<\/a> is to strengthen Europe\u2019s energy security, improve grid resilience, support renewable energy integration and accelerate cross-border decarbonisation efforts.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Ar Merzher converter station will convert direct current transmitted through the submarine cable into alternating current for injection into the French electricity grid and vice versa, enabling power exchanges between France and Ireland. Main works are to be completed in May of this year, with energisation planned from June 2026 and full commission of the project expected by 2028.<\/p>\n<p>Commenting on the announcement, St\u00e9phane Perez, the chief executive officer of NGE said, \u201cThis project is emblematic of our capacity to bring together the full breadth of expertise required to deliver a complex and ambitious scheme that supports Europe\u2019s energy sovereignty. It is fully aligned with our strategic roadmap and reflects our commitment to playing an active role in the ecological transition.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>R\u00e9mi Courtial, the project director for the Celtic Interconnector, RTE added, \u201cThis is the first link between the Republic of Ireland, a member of the European Union, and mainland Europe. We aim to facilitate the flow of energy across Europe. Mutual support between European countries remains an act of sovereignty. Everyone benefits from each other\u2019s decarbonised energy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/eepurl.com\/hIdNrT\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Daily Brief<\/a>, Silicon Republic\u2019s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Work has been completed on the main construction of the Ar Merzher converter station in Brittany. French infrastructure&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":421365,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-421364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=421364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421364\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}