Wind farms in Ireland are soon to be connected to UK's national grid

Jul 17, 2012 13:40 GMT  ·  By

It was just made public that Element Power, a global renewable energy company, and Great Britain's National Grid reached an agreement according to which up to 40 onshore wind farms in Ireland are to be connected to UK's electricity grid.

This basically means that electricity coming all the way from mid-Ireland will be shipped all the way to various regions in the UK, all of this with the help of cables whose overall transmission capacity will amount to 3,000MW.

Should things go as planned, the UK will have 10% of its energy demands met by means of this green and relatively cheap – if you don't take into consideration the initial investments – energy source, something that will overjoy both those worried about the national budget, and those concerned about the wellbeing of the environment.

Moreover, since such major investments typically cause for new job opportunities to emerge, it should be expected that the country's economy will also feel the benefits of deciding to go green and turn towards wind power.

Business Green reports that this environmentally friendly project is to be officially known as the Greenwire, and that about ₤7 billion (approximately €9 billion / $11 billion) will eventually go onto ensuring its long-term success.

The same source informs us that Julian Leslie, presently working with the National Grid Transmission, recently told the press that “This agreement will break new ground by connecting wind generation in Ireland directly to the UK transmission system.”

On the other hand, Tim Cowhig from Element Power Ireland made a case of how “UK energy requirement has become Ireland's opportunity, it makes perfect sense to capitalize on our geographic location and create an export industry.”

It is our belief that this project is bound to be a success and that more countries should consider resorting to a similar course of actions in order to push for sustainable development and improve on their national economies.