Today, the 25th of September 2026, the CRU has issued its decision (reference CRU2026150) on the Initial Project Assessment (IPA) for the proposed MaresConnect 750 MW electricity interconnector between Ireland and Great Britain, developed by MaresConnect Limited.
The CRU has decided to award the proposed MaresConnect interconnector a Cap and Floor regime, subject to a set of IPA conditions, allowing the project to progress to the Final Project Assessment stage.
This decision reflects the CRU’s conclusion that the MaresConnect interconnector remains in the interests of SEM consumers.
The socio economic welfare case is robust, viable connection solutions exist, and no new evidence warrants a change to the CRU’s consultation position on cost, technical design or deliverability.
While there are risks surrounding the original 2030 target operational date, the CRU considers the economic case resilient to moderate delay, with the IPA conditions providing the means to intervene should circumstances change materially.
Alongside this paper, the CRU has published the additional market modelling analysis (paper reference CRU2026151) carried out to quantity the SEW impact of dispatch down.
Responses received to the consultation paper (CRU202563) which were not marked confidential are available via the consultation portal here.
