§ 9. Mr. Eric ClarkeTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what progress has been made on the electricity interconnector to Northern Ireland from Scotland and the upgrading of the English interconnector. 155178]
§ Mrs. LiddellProgress is ongoing on upgrading interconnector links from Scotland to both Northern Ireland and England and I welcome the further expansion of business opportunities in the electricity market. Work is under way to have the Scotland—Northern Ireland interconnector fully operational by the end of the year, at a capacity of 480MW, which will be its design maximum. It is expected that at least some of the electricity exported to Northern Ireland would then be re-exported to the Republic.
Work is also progressing to complete the upgrading of the Scotland—England interconnector by October 2002. The upgrade will take its nominal capacity from 1600MW to 2200MW.