Irish Minister for Climate, Energy and Environment Darragh O’Brien said the project could be co-funded by the EU and completed by the mid-2030s.
Ireland’s Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment, Darragh O’Brien, has announced that Ireland and Spain are in discussions about the construction of an interconnector to connect the two countries’ electricity grids.
After taking part in an event focused on Europe’s electricity grids in Luxembourg on Monday and Tuesday of this week, O’Brien took to social media platform to say he had met with his Spanish counterpart, Energy Secretary Joan Groizard, to discuss the plan.
Just returned from Luxembourg after productive meetings of the Energy and Environment Council. Plans discussed for a new interconnector linking Ireland and Spain, strengthening our renewable energy links with Europe 🇮🇪🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/zB70KM3lMW
— Darragh O’Brien (@DarraghOBrienTD) October 22, 2025
“Ireland is one of the European leaders in integrating renewable energy into our electricity grid,” he said, referring to the country’s ongoing interconnection project linking Ireland and France, which should be electrified by 2027.
“But we are now looking beyond that, so we have had good discussions with our Spanish colleagues and we are working towards a Memorandum of Understanding in the spring of next year, and that this will hopefully be a new interconnector that we will have with continental Europe by mid-2030,” the minister added in a short video clip on his X account.
In an interview with Irish state broadcaster RTÉ News, O’Brien elaborated on the logistics of the emerging plan. While the cost of the interconnector has not yet been confirmed, he said Europe could co-finance the cost with Spain and Ireland.
“Things will have to be worked out on the exact locations and things like that, but we are working towards a Memorandum of Understanding in the spring,” the minister told the broadcaster.
O’Brien’s meeting with Groizard took place during the Energy and Environment Council in Luxembourg.
Prior to this event, the minister and Groizard co-chaired a meeting of the ‘Friends of Renewables’ group, which consists of 15 member states of the European Union. Delegates met with the European Commission to discuss the upcoming European Grids Package, which focuses on improving electricity interconnection between member states to strengthen the European electricity grid. One of the topics of discussion at this meeting was the group’s agreement to support the Council’s position on the REPowerEU proposal to phase out imports of Russian fossil fuels, with a complete ban from 2028.
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