Ireland’s Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment, Darragh O’Brien, has announced that Ireland and Spain are in talks to build an interconnector to link the electricity grids of both countries.
Following his attendance at an event focused on European electricity grids in Luxembourg on Monday and Tuesday of this week, O’Brien took to social media platform X to say he met with his Spanish counterpart, the Secretary of State for Energy, Joan Groizard to discuss the plan.
Just back from Luxembourg after productive Energy and Environment Council meetings. Discussed plans for a new interconnector linking Ireland and Spain, strengthening our renewable energy ties with Europe 🇮🇪🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/zB70KM3lMW
— Darragh O'Brien (@DarraghOBrienTD) October 22, 2025
“Ireland is one of the European leaders at integrating renewable energy into our electricity grid,” he said, referencing the nation’s ongoing interconnector project linking Ireland and France due to be electrified in 2027.
“But we’re looking past that now, so we’ve had good discussions with our Spanish colleagues and we’re working towards a memorandum of understanding in the spring of next year, and that hopefully this will be another interconnector that we will have to continental Europe in the mid 2030s,” the Minister added in a brief video clip posted to his X account.
In an interview with Irish state broadcaster RTÉ News, O’Brien expanded on the logistics of the emerging plan. While the costs of the interconnector have not been confirmed, he said Europe may co-fund the costs along with Spain and Ireland.
“Things will have to be worked through on 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 that comprises 15 European Union Member States. The delegates met with the European Commission to discuss the upcoming European Grids Package that focuses on enhancing electricity interconnection between Member States to bolster Europe's electricity grid. Among the talking points at this meeting was the group's agreement to back the Council's position on the REPowerEU proposal to phase out Russian fossil fuel imports with a full ban to apply from 2028.
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