France and Ireland grid operators take 1 billion euro cable project to next phase

PARIS (Reuters) - French electricity grid operator RTE and Ireland's EirGrid said on Thursday they are taking their 1 billion euros (£834.8 million) subsea electricity cable project linking Ireland and France to the next phase following the completion of feasibility studies. The latest stage will include among others; in-depth economic assessment; environmental studies and pre-consultation in preparation for permit granting in the two countries, the companies said in a joint statement. They added that the cable project called Celtic Interconnector would have a capacity of about 700 megawatts and was expected to improve the security of electricity supply in France and Ireland. (Reporting by Bate Felix, editing by Sybille de La Hamaide)