Multimillion dollar undersea power cable rerouted to spare Dobby the house-elf’s beachside ‘grave’
A multimillion-dollar undersea power cable project between the UK and Ireland was rerouted after Harry Potter fans campaigned to protect a beach memorial for the character Dobby. The project manager initially struggled to understand the significance of the fictional character but ultimately complied with public pressure.
Why it matters
This incident illustrates the growing influence of pop culture fandoms on large-scale infrastructure and corporate decision-making processes.
A multimillion-dollar power link between the United Kingdom and Ireland has been diverted after distraught Harry Potter fans pointed out that its planned route would cut through a beach memorial dedicated to a beloved character from the series, Dobby the house-elf.
The £430 million (around NZ$980 million) Greenlink interconnector links the UK's National Grid power transmission network to Ireland via a 125-mile cable between Ireland's County Wexford on the southeast coast and Freshwater West, a beach in Wales' southwest, where the death of Dobby was filmed for the Potter movie franchise.
Originally, the undersea cable - whose purpose is to share excess renewable energy, boost security and double the electricity transfer capacity between the two nations - would have disturbed the symbolic grave where Potter fans leave handwritten tributes to the magical creature on pebbles.
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