Chair of the NI Region Jonathan Hegan welcomed attendees to a meeting of the NI Region and a site visit kindly arranged by Paddy Larkin FIAE Chief Executive of Mutual Energy to the Moyle Interconnector.
Mutual Energy is a major player in the Northern Ireland energy sector managing critically important gas and electricity assets. They own and operate the two vital energy links between Northern Ireland and Great Britain: the Moyle interconnector and the Scotland Northern Ireland Pipeline (SNIP).
Academy President Sean Finlay, accompanied by Tom Leahy Academy Special Advisor/Director and David Timoney representing the IAE Energy and climate Action committee were warmly welcomed.
The Academy thanked Stephen Hemphill (Mutual energy Operations Director) and Andy de Leeuwe (Siemens Operational Engineer),who gave a very interesting tour of the control room and the interconnector.
Moyle Interconnector: IAE Visitors to the Control Room with Stephen Hemphill (Mutual energy Operations Director)
The Moyle Interconnector is a 500-megawatt (MW) HVDC link between Scotland and Northern Ireland, running between Auchencrosh in Ayrshire and Ballycronan More in County Antrim. It went into service in 2001 and is owned and operated by Mutual Energy, a private company limited by guarantee, registered in Northern Ireland.
The connection involves 63.5 km (39.5-mile) long monopolar cables, of which 55 km (34 miles) are submarine cables. The Ballycronan More converter station is connected into the Northern Ireland grid through two 275 kV overhead line circuits. The converter stations were designed and constructed by Siemens, and were the first to feature Siemens light-triggered thyristors.
Of particular interest was the detail of the interconnector cable and there was a wide- ranging discussion on electricity and gas interconnectors on the island of Ireland.
Moyle Interconnector: Original undersea cable detail
Moyle Interconnector: Outdoor Equipment with Andy de Leeuwe (Siemens Operational Engineer)
The meeting was then briefed by Tom Leahy on latest Academy developments including:
- New President Sean Finlay elected at AGM in May 2025
- Recent publications and Academy News bulletins
- Welcome event for new Fellows on 13th June 2025
- Euro-CASE Conference 2026 in Belfast – The meeting provided good feedback on the conference theme which was relayed to RAE.
- Recent meeting with ROI National Development Plan acceleration team on accelerating infrastructure.
John McCanny FIAE briefed the meeting on progress on Parsons Medal 2025 – Event planned for Birr Castle on 16th October 2025.
Save the date in your diary– The next meeting of the NI Committee is planned for 2nd October 2025 in Catalyst.