Donegal

This project was a joint development between ESB Networks and EirGrid, and is now complete. It was a joint project because it included both a transmission line and a distribution line. (Transmission lines power the national grid, while distribution lines supply electricity to individual customers.)

The new line follows a Y- shaped path. This runs from the south of the county, near Binbane, to a switching station at Glenties. From there the line splits to serve Letterkenny and Derrybeg in the North West of the county. The line is just over 100 km in length, and is carried mainly on pairs of wooden poles. It uses some steel angle masts where the line changes direction.

There was an urgent need to reinforce the electricity network in County Donegal. This is because the demand for electricity in County Donegal had grown significantly over the past fifteen years. There was a risk that the quality of electricity supply would fall below acceptable standards.

We can summarise the problems this project solved as follows:

• At Derrybeg and Gweedore, growing energy use was creating critical levels of voltage decay. This problem would have prevented new customers from connecting to the electricity network.
• Killybegs and Kilcar had inadequate capacity for present and future needs.
• Capacity and reliability of this region's transmission network was weak, and needed reinforcement.

Now that the project is complete, this new line has improved reliability of the electricity supply in Donegal. It also allows for the future connection of renewable energy sources to the grid.