Ireland's first electricity link with Great Britain has been officially opened at Batterstown by Taoiseach Enda Kenny, TD, Irish and British energy ministers and EU Energy Commissioner Oettinger.

The EirGrid East West Interconnector runs between Deeside in north Wales and Woodland, County Meath in Ireland. Approximately 260km in length, the underground and undersea link has the capacity to transport 500 megawatts - enough energy to power 300,000 homes.

The EirGrid Interconnector will carry electricity both ways, helping to improve security of supply, increase competitiveness and to encourage the growth of renewable energy generation.

At the opening of the Interconnector today in Batterstown where the Interconnector connects to the Irish national grid, EirGrid chief executive, Dermot Byrne said: "The Government asked EirGrid to deliver on this strategic infrastructure by 2012. EirGrid took this ambitious challenge and ran with it. We put in place the necessary structures to deliver this major infrastructure on a tight timeline. It was a challenge and it was an achievement delivering the complex project on time and approximately €30 million under budget.