The €300 million second gas interconnector between Scotland and Ireland should be completed by October, according to Bord Gáis Éireann.
Work on the pipeline was witnessed at first hand yesterday by the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Mr Ahern, when he was flown out to the lay-barge, Solitaire, 10 kilomtres off the Isle of Man.
The 300-metre Solitaire is the largest pipe-laying vessel in the world, and can put down over eight kilometres of pipe per day.
The project is part of a €1.4 billion programme to improve Ireland's pipeline infrastructure.
This programme represents the largest capital expenditure in the company's 23-year history, Mr Ed O'Connell, the Bord Gáis chairman, said yesterday. It will ensure continuity of gas supply at open market prices for the coming decades, he added.
The Minister said that security of energy supplies at market prices was vital for the economy.
"The first interconnector has been a very successful investment for Ireland, and now transports over 80 per cent of Ireland's gas demand," he said. "The second interconnector will ensure sufficient transmission pipeline capacity for many years to come."
Mr Ahern said it would play a "vital role" in "fostering competition into the energy market".
The second interconnector extends from Ross Bay in Scotland and will make its landfall at Gormanston, Co Meath. The gas will be piped to a terminal in north Dublin, where it can feed into the network.
As part of the project Bord Gáis is also constructing a €50 million spur line to the Isle of Man to supply natural gas to the island's electricity authority.
The 320 kilometre pipeline to the west, linking Dublin, Galway and Limerick, is "well under way" and is due to be finished by the end of this year, according to Bord Gáis.
Plans to develop the Corrib gas field owned by Enterprise Energy Ireland, Statoil and Marathon have experienced a setback with a request by An Bord Pleanála for more information on the onshore terminal's planning application.
