NeuConnect is an

HVDC A high-voltage direct current (HVDC) electric power transmission system (also called a power superhighway or an electrical superhighway) uses direct current (DC) for electric power transmission, in contrast with the more common alternating curre ...

submarine power cable under construction between England and Germany.

Project Status

As of December 2022, early construction works have started in Wilhelmshaven and Isle of Grain, and manufacture of the cable has started. The main construction phase will start in 2023. As of October 2022, operation is expected to start in 2028.

Route

The cable will run between a new substation on the

Isle of Grain Isle of Grain (Old English ''Greon'', meaning gravel) is a village and the easternmost point of the Hoo Peninsula within the district of Medway in Kent, south-east England. No longer an island and now forming part of the peninsula, the area i ...

, in Kent in England to the Fedderwarden substation in

Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsh ...

in the Lower Saxony region of Germany. Landfall will be next to Grain Coastal Park, in Kent, and at Hooksiel, near Wilhemshaven in Germany. At 725km in length, the interconnector will be one of the longest in the world.

Specification

The HVDC link will consist of two main cables, each approximately long, together with a much thinner fibre optic cable for temperature and acoustic sensing for about from each landfall. The DC element will operate at 525kV, with a maximum capacity of 1,400MW.

Economics

The project is privately financed and will cost £2.4Bn (€2.8Bn). The project will deliver £1.7Bn in consumer benefits to UK consumers over 25 years, and could deliver a net reduction in carbon emissions of over 13MtCO2 in the same time.

History

Neuconnect Britain Ltd. was established in 2018. NeuConnect received Interim Project Approval from

Ofgem , type = Non-ministerial government department , nativename = , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , logo = Ofgem logo.svg , logo_width = 124px , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = , picture_widt ...

in January 2018. Public consultation events were held in July 2019. In December 2019, the planning application was submitted to

Medway Council Medway Council is the local authority of Medway in Kent, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. The council was created on 1 April 1998 and replaced Rochester-upon-Medw ...

. In December 2019, Invitations to Tender were launched for the procurement of two converter stations and 720km of HVDC cabling. In December 2019, the Invitation to Tender (ITT) stage was launched to procure two converter stations and 720km of HVDC cables. In January 2020, the Federal Network Agency in Germany (BNetzA) confirmed the NeuConnect interconnector project in its 2019-2030 grid development plan. In April 2020, Neuconnect completed site survey work on the Isle of Grain. A €1.2 billion cable contract was awarded in February 2022, and substations contract in April. In July 2022, the project reached financial close, allowing early construction works to begin later in 2022. In October 2022, the cable manufacturer Prysmian started production of the 725km cable.

References

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External links

Company website

Public consultation leaflet
Electrical interconnectors to and from Great Britain Electrical interconnectors to and from the Synchronous Grid of Continental Europe HVDC transmission lines