Chambers Ireland welcomes approval of the North South Interconnector in Northern Ireland

23rd January 2018

Commenting on today’s (23 January 2018) announcement that the North South Interconnector has been granted full planning approval in Northern Ireland,

Chambers Ireland Chief Executive Ian Talbot said,

"We are very pleased with the granting of full planning approval for the North South Interconnector by Northern Ireland planning authorities today.

Energy security on the island of Ireland is of the utmost importance to business operations here, both indigenous industry and FDI companies. The Interconnector will improve security of electricity supply for Irish businesses and in turn strengthen the Integrated Single Electricity Market (I-SEM) to the benefit of both businesses and consumers.

Delivery of the North South Interconnector will remove constraints and bottlenecks which restrict the most efficient flow of energy within the I-SEM and there has been widespread support for this project from the business community.

Sufficient energy capacity is a pre-requisite for regional economies when competing for investment and attracting new companies to establish in an area. The Interconnector will ensure more competitive energy costs and increased capacity of the grid, which will facilitate new business and the scaling up of businesses.

This is good news for Ireland’s competitiveness and we look forward to the completion of the project.”