Utility infrastructure specialist Transmission Investment has hit another significant development milestone in its bid to eventually move power into the grid in Northern Ireland.
It comes after the north’s Utility Regulator awarded it a licence to participate in the transmission of electricity, which authorises it to move electricity into and out of the integrated single energy market on the island of Ireland.
In November TI LirIC Ltd, a company wholly owned by Transmission Investment Holdings, was granted a licence by Britain’s energy regulator Ofgem to invest £700 million to lay 142km of sub-sea cable between Kilroot and Hunterston, near Kilmarnock, and build two conversion stations, generating 700 megawatts.
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And this receipt of its transmission licence is seen as the final piece of the jigsaw in allowing the project to proceed between now and 2032, providing the fundamental regulatory licensing requirements, reducing project risk and, according to the company, “allows the project to move forward with confidence”.
Keith Morrison, project director for TI LirIC, said: “Securing this licence marks a significant step forward for our proposals.
“It comes a few weeks after Ofgem also decided to support the project through its cap and floor regime.
“We look forward to working collaboratively with both regulators to deliver this important UK infrastructure project.”
LirIC had said previously that its application for a transmission licence was an early milestone in a long process, but was significant in that it moves the company astage closer towards delivering this very exciting project.
It said at that time: “LirlC will increase the opportunities for home-grown renewables to export power to other markets, reduce the curtailment of wind generators, lower the wholesale power price in wholesale markets, which on average is forecast to be higher in Northern Ireland, as well as deliver social economic welfare benefits.”
London-headquartered Transmission Investment operates in the offshore transmission sector, leveraging its knowledge and experience in developing, operating and managing, and acquiring electricity assets.
