Harry Potter fans helped change the route of a £430 million power cable.
The Greenlink interconnector would have passed through Dobby’s grave at Freshwater West in Wales.
Etchea Energy CEO Simon Ludlam revealed the story during an Energy Revolution podcast interview.
The 190km Greenlink cable connects County Wexford in Ireland with Freshwater West in Wales.
However, hundreds of Harry Potter fans contacted the project team after learning about the planned route.
Dobby’s grave sits at a fan-made memorial at Freshwater West.
The beach featured in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1. It hosted the emotional scene where Harry buried Dobby.
The location later became a popular pilgrimage site for Harry Potter fans.
Etchea Energy eventually changed the cable route.
The company completed the project in August 2024. The interconnector officially went live in April 2025.
‘Dobby? Who’s Dobby?’
The company completed the project in August 2024. The interconnector officially went live in April 2025.
The ‘Harry Potter’ effect
Along with rallying to stop a £430 million cable, Harry Potter and fans of the series continue to shape the UK.
As one of the world’s most popular book and film franchises, the Harry Potter series is a major contributor to the UK’s tourism industry and draws millions of tourists every year – though many places are left scrambling to cope.
In the Scottish Highlands, a visitor centre near Glenfinnan Viaduct, made famous by the movies, had to undergo a £6 million revamp after Harry Potter fans swamped the area.
660,000 visitors were coming annually to a facility built in the 1960s with an expected capacity of 100,000.
The site was described as “overwhelmed.”
King’s Cross Station in London set up a permanent ‘Platform 9¾’ display away from the real platforms after tourists kept disrupting commuters.
In 2024, the station decided to discontinue its annual “Back to Hogwarts” event, after thousands of fans gathered in 2023 to hear the departure announcement of the ‘Hogwarts Express’ on the official Tannoy.
The station said that “celebrations have grown significantly in popularity,” and this was “challenging” for the station, already one of the busiest for passengers in the UK.
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