National Grid and ScottishPower Transmission award £1bn contract for first ever sub sea electricity link between Scotland and England.
- The sub sea link will be a vital reinforcement – bringing renewable energy from Scotland to the south and helping to meet 2020 renewable targets.
- Siemens and cable manufacturer Prysmian win £1bn deal to build the links and on shore connections.
- 2,200 Megawatt capacity running between Hunterston in Ayrshire to the Wirral – the longest of this capacity in the world.
National Grid and ScottishPower have today announced the award of a £1bn contract to Siemens and cable manufacturer Prysmian to build the first ever sub sea electricity link between Scotland and England. The major grid upgrade will allow the connection of up to 6GW of renewable energy in Scotland.
The 420 km link will run from Hunterston in Ayrshire in Scotland to a landing point on the Wirral peninsula. The new circuit will enable large volumes of renewable wind and other generation to be transferred from Scotland to areas of higher demand in England.
The link will be the longest 2,200MW capacity HVDC (High Voltage Direct Current) cable in the world. It will also be the first sub sea link ever using a DC voltage level of 600 kilovolts (kV). This will increase the link’s capacity and there will be lower transmission losses. It is planned to be fully operational by 2016.
The full press release for this announcement is available here.