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 In telecommunications, a transmission system is a communication system that transmits a signal from one place to another. The signal can be an signal (electrical engineering), electrical, fiber-optic communication, optical or radio wave, radio s ...

of the Manx Utilities Authority to that of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

. 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 the Borough of Blackpool in Lancashire, England. Geography and administration The village is part of the borough of Blackpool, and to the south of Bispham is Warbreck, North Shore, Blackpool, North ...

, England, and

Douglas Head Douglas Head (Manx: ''Kione Ghoolish'') is a rocky point on the Isle of Man overlooking Douglas Harbour, Douglas Bay and harbour. Views extend to include Snaefell Mountain and Laxey. General Until 1870, the headland was owned by The Nunnery, ...

on the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

, 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 north ...

and the other at

Pirelli Pirelli & C. S.p.A. is an Italian multinational tyre manufacturer based in the city of Milan, Italy. The company, which has been listed on the Borsa Italiana since 1922, is the 5th-largest tyre manufacturer, and is focused on the consumer pro ...

Cables in

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

. 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 power station at Pulrose, in the capital, Douglas. The electricity cable is bundled with a

fibre-optic cable A fiber-optic cable, also known as an optical-fiber cable, is an assembly similar to an electrical cable but containing one or more optical fibers that are used to carry light. The optical fiber elements are typically individually coated with p ...

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