The Isle of Man to England Interconnector is a

submarine power cable A submarine power cable is a transmission cable for carrying electric power below the surface of the water.transmission system :''See Transmission (mechanics) for a car's transmission system'' In telecommunications, a transmission system is a system that transmits a signal from one place to another. The signal can be an electrical, optical or radio signal. Some transmissi ...

of the Manx Electricity Authority to that of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

. With an undersea section of approximately , it is the second longest AC undersea cable in the world.

Route

It was laid in 1999 between

Bispham, Blackpool Bispham is a village on the Fylde coast in Lancashire, England, a mile and a half north of Blackpool town centre. Geography and administration The village is part of the borough of Blackpool, and generally considered a suburb of the town. To ...

, England, and Douglas Head on the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = " O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europ ...

, commencing commercial operations in November 2000. It is capable of continuous operation of 40 MW at 90 kV (although other sources say 65MW at 132kV AC)

Structure

The cable was manufactured in two parts: one section at the former BICC works in

Erith Erith () is an area in south-east London, England, east of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater London in 1965, it was in the historical county of Kent. Since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Bexley. It lies nort ...

and the other at

Pirelli Pirelli & C. S.p.A. is a multinational tyre manufacturer based in Milan, Italy. The company, which has been listed on the Milan Stock Exchange since 1922, is the 6th-largest tyre manufacturer and is focused on the consumer production of tyres ...

Cables in

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. It ended the Isle of Man's dependence on local diesel-powered generation. Power supplies to the island were increased in 2003 by an 85MW

combined cycle gas turbine A combined cycle power plant is an assembly of heat engines that work in tandem from the same source of heat, converting it into mechanical energy. On land, when used to make electricity the most common type is called a combined cycle gas turb ...

power station at Pulrose, in the capital,

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...

. The electricity cable is bundled with a fibre optic cable which is used for telecommunications. The cable is owned by e-llan Communications, which is part of Manx Utilities. The electricity cable is used for importing and exporting electricity between the Isle of Man and the GB National Grid. The cable is mostly buried at around depth but is on the seabed surface at six locations with protective cable mattresses.

Capacity

On the 20th anniversary in 2020 of its commissioning a total of 1.5TWh of power has been exported to the UK grid which contributed £47million to the revenue of the Isle of Man. The amount of electricity sold to the UK since 201415 and the revenue gained each year was as follows:

Notes

References

{{Blackpool buildings Electrical interconnectors to and from Great Britain Buildings and structures in the Isle of Man Buildings and structures in Blackpool Electric power infrastructure in England Energy infrastructure completed in 1999 1999 establishments in the United Kingdom Isle of Man–United Kingdom relations High-voltage transmission lines

Route

Structure

Capacity

See also

Notes

References