A major milestone has been reached that should pave the way to the laying of a subsea power interconnector between Norway and the UK, which is expected to landfall in the Scottish north-east.
Norway’s Statnett and the UK’s National Grid have signed an agreement to confirm their plans to develop the 700km, up to 1,400 megawatts capacity link with 2020 set as the date to throw the switches.
The North Sea Network (NSN) project is a key to further development of the North-European power grid, and of high priority to the companies.
The agreement follows three years of preparatory work and basically expresses the companies’ intention to continue work to facilitate an investment decision for the construction of the interconnector.
The parties are currently performing a joint seabed survey along the planned route and will now focus on obtaining the necessary regulatory and environmental agreements and concessions as well as preparing for the procurement of some 700km of cable and two converter stations.
A key milestone will be the submittal of the Norwegian Trade Concession Application to the Norwegian Ministry in the first half of next year.
The interconnector is predicted to contribute to further integration of the north European power markets and strengthen the grid that increasingly binds them together and enables further renewables-based power generation.
Indeed the Norway-UK interconnector is a cornerstone in the network development plans for the countries surrounding the North Sea basin, and of high priority to the companies.
When completed, it will be the world’s longest subsea power cable.
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