EirGrid has unveiled a €500m power line project, the Grid Link Project, that will involve the construction of a new power line linking Leinster and Munster in Ireland.
EirGrid has identified three sites and said a line linking Cork and Kildare through Wexford will be best suited for the project.
The company has begun public consultation on the planned 400kV kV alternating current (AC) grid link corridor that will connect stations at Knockraha in Cork, Great Island in Co Wexford and Dunstown in Co Kildare.
The initial proposed project study area within which the project will be located, Carlow, Cork, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Limerick, Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford and Wicklow, is now the subject of public consultation.
The corridor is likely to be overhead, covering a length of 250km with pylons every 4km and provides a secure, long-term electricity supply across the south and east of the country.
EirGrid stated it has carried out a detailed analysis of the national transmission grid to identify the level of reinforcement required to ensure a secure electricity supply and identified a capacity shortfall in the south and east of the country.