Steve Aiken OBE, the Ulster Unionist Party economy spokesperson has described the latest fault on the electricity Interconnector linking Northern Ireland with Scotland as highly concerning.

Steve Aiken said:

“News that the 500 MW Moyle electricity interconnector which links Northern Ireland and Scotland is back operating at only 50% capacity is highly concerning.  It was only last year that it was restored to full capacity after years of faults and repair work.

“With half of the connection down, this latest incident underlines the fragility of the Northern Ireland electricity system. Questions must now be asked about whether it will be more cost effective to continue to repair or replace the undersea cable.

“It also flags up the inadequacy of the Executive’s energy policy - something that the Ulster Unionist Party has pointed out consistently in Opposition.

“The wider question is how does this affect the overall electricity market in Northern Ireland and the capacity of the government to literally keep the lights on in Northern Ireland?

“With the ongoing issues around planning consent on both sides of the border for the North South Interconnector, Northern Ireland faces a real and present threat to its electricity supply.  We raised security of supply concerns at the Assembly through a motion in November and were accused by some in the DUP/Sinn Fein Executive of scaremongering. In reality we were asking the Minister to consider a Plan B for ensuring security of supply.  Unfortunately, the Minister for the Economy has failed to get to grips with this important part of his portfolio.

“Whoever is in charge of the Department for the Economy after 2 March needs to have energy policy and specifically the security of our electricity supply right at the top of their list of priorities.”