Onshore wind turbines in Germany. The NeuConnect project says the interconnector will enable the UK to “tap into Germany’s vast energy infrastructure, including its significant renewable energy sources”.
By Thomas E. Gunnarsson | moment open | Getty Images
Key contracts totaling more than £1.5 billion ($1.95 billion) have been awarded for a major interconnector project that will link Germany and the UK as countries around the world seek to restore energy supplies amid the ongoing crisis in to support Ukraine.
The NeuConnect project focuses on submarine cables that will enable 1.4 gigawatts of electricity to be transmitted bidirectionally between the UK and Germany – Europe’s two largest economies. The interconnector measures 725 kilometers or just over 450 miles.
NeuConnect’s backers have dubbed the privately funded company an “invisible energy highway” and described it as “the first direct link between the UK and German energy markets”.
The orders awarded relate to cabling work and converter stations. NeuConnect said Siemens Energy has been awarded the latter, which will include design and construction of sites in Germany and the UK
The NeuConnect project has previously said the interconnector will enable the UK to “tap into Germany’s vast energy infrastructure, including its significant renewable energy sources”.
For Germany it says: “The new connection with the UK will help to remove current bottlenecks, where wind turbines are often shut down because too much renewable energy is being produced.”
Monday’s announcement said NeuConnect’s financial close is scheduled for the “coming weeks,” allowing work to begin sometime in 2022.
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The project has been in the works for some time, but its progress comes at a time when the Russian invasion of Ukraine has highlighted just how dependent some economies are on Russian fossil fuels.
Indeed, while the war in Ukraine has created geopolitical tensions and divisions, it has also prompted a number of initiatives marked by cooperation and shared goals.
For example, the US and the European Commission recently issued a statement on energy security announcing the creation of a joint task force on the issue.
The parties said the US would seek to secure at least 15 billion cubic meters of additional LNG for the EU this year. They added that this is expected to increase in the future.
President Joe Biden said the US and EU would also “work together to take concrete action to reduce dependence on natural gas — period — and … maximize the availability and use of renewable energy.”
NeuConnect isn’t the only project focused on connecting the UK to other parts of Europe.
Last year, a 450-mile undersea cable linking the UK and Norway, allowing them to share renewable energy, went into commercial operation.
The idea behind the North Sea Link, as it is called, is to use Norway’s hydroelectric power and the UK’s wind energy resources.
Back in the UK, plans were announced in 2020 for a multi-billion pound ‘undersea energy superhighway’ that would allow electricity produced in Scotland to be brought to the North East of England.
The Eastern Link project, which is currently in the early stages of development, is intended to focus on the development of a pair of high-voltage DC cables with a total capacity of 4 GW.