Approval for three more interconnectors and Britain’s first two offshore hybrid assets are expected to help the country become a net exporter of energy by 2030, maximising the benefits of North Sea offshore wind energy generation.
The two offshore hybrid assets (OHAs) will be able to feed energy generated by offshore wind farms into both British and mainland European grids.
The greenlit new projects are:
Interconnectors:
- Tarchon Energy Interconnector, a 610km subsea cable between East Anglia and Niederlangen, Germany to deliver up to 1.4GW of electricity capacity
- Mares Connect, a 190km subsea cable between Bodelwyddan in North Wales to the Republic of Ireland, delivering 0.75GW of additional electricity capacity
- LirIC , a 142km subsea electricity interconnector between Kilroot in Northern Ireland to Hunterston in Ayrshire, delivering 0.7GW of additional electricity capacity
Offshore hybrid assets (OHAs):
- LionLink, an OHA connecting Dutch offshore windfarms to the British grid with an onshore landing point in Suffolk, providing up to 1.8GW of electricity to each country
- Nautilus, an OHA connecting Belgium offshore windfarms to the British grid, coming ashore at the Isle of Grain in Kent and providing up to 1.4GW of offshore wind to each country through subsea electricity cables.
The new projects are all expected to be complete and operational by the end of 2032.
The cost to consumers of all five projects will be between £2 to £5 a year on individual consumer electricity bills over the years 2030 to 2055, implying a total cost of up to £3.6bn.
OHAs combine interconnection with the transmission of electricity generated by offshore windfarms and create direct links between power grids and windfarms. Currently there is only one OHA operational in the world Kriegers Flak in the Baltic Sea, which connects Germany's Baltic II wind farm with the electricity grids of both Germany and Denmark.
With the approval of Lion Link and Nautilus, Britain could become a world leader in OHA interconnection technology, it is suggested.
Akshay Kaul, director general for infrastructure at Ofgem, said: "We've carefully assessed all the proposed projects and only approved those ones which deliver for consumers in terms of value, viability and energy security.
"As we shift to a clean power system more reliant on intermittent wind and solar energy, these new connections will help harness the vast potential of the North Sea and play a key role in making our energy supply cheaper and less reliant on volatile foreign gas markets and associated price spikes.
He added: "With Britain expected to become a net energy exporter in the 2030s, these connections will equip us with world leading technology to export more of our surplus clean power overseas. They will also provide greater access to energy imports, which together with domestic low carbon energy sources such as nuclear and biomass, will provide vital back-up energy sources when renewable generation is more limited here."
Currently GB has nine operational interconnectors:
- 4GW to France (IFA, IFA2 and ElecLink)
- 1GW to the Netherlands (BritNed)
- 1GW to Belgium (Nemo Link)
- 500MW to Northern Ireland (Moyle)
- 500MW to the Republic of Ireland (East West)
- 1.4 GW to Norway (NSL)
- 1.4GW to Denmark (Viking Link)
It also has two under construction
- GreenLink to the Republic of Ireland
- NeuConnect to Germany.
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