Construction is due to start next year on the first interconnector linking the UK and German electricity markets after Boris Johnson and Angela Merkel outlined support for the project at their final meeting.
The two leaders backed the £1.4 billion NeuConnect project, a 700km long sub-sea cable with capacity for 1.4GW of electricity to flow in either direction, when the German chancellor met the prime minister today (2 July) on her last official visit to the UK before she steps down in September.
Its backers claim that NeuConnect will deliver a net reduction in carbon emissions of 16 MtCO2 over 25 years and is currently the single largest Anglo-German investment project.
The interconnector consists of two high voltage subsea cables and two high voltage underground cables connecting HVDC converter stations in Great Britain and Germany.
The two convertor stations, located in Kent and near Wilhelmshaven, will convert electricity from the alternating current used on the two nations’ grids to the direct current that is more efficient for transmitting electricity efficiently over long distances using high voltage cables.
The cables will travel through British, Dutch and German waters.
NeuConnect was granted the status of a ‘Project of Common Interest’ by the EU in November 2020 due to its contribution to European energy policy objectives, including competitiveness, sustainability and security of supply.
The project’s three lead investors Meridiam, Allianz Capital Partners and Kansai Electric Power, are targeting financial close in September which would allow initial works to begin later this year and major construction works in 2022.
NeuConnect announced last week that its UK Interconnector Licence, which was first awarded in 2018, has now been updated by Ofgem to include changes to its cap and floor regulations that were introduced to facilitate project-financed schemes.
Over the last 12 months, the project has also secured planning approval for UK onshore works that will allow the construction of a converter station and onshore cabling works at the Isle of Grain.