Operator NorthConnect | Owner NorthConnect Construction started 2019 | |
Type of current High-voltage direct current Partners Agder Energi, Lyse Energi, Vattenfall | ||
Northconnection rpl 18 octobre 2008
The NorthConnect (also known as Scotland–Norway interconnector) is a proposed 650-kilometre (400 mi) 1,400 MW HVDC interconnector over the floor of the North Sea. The £1.75 billion project is being developed by NorthConnect, a Norwegian company specially set up by five electricity companies (Agder Energi, E-CO, Lyse, SSE plc and Vattenfall) to advance the scheme, with 2020 as the target start date. It is hoped that the connector will assist the growth of the Norwegian and Scottish renewable energy industries.
It would be the first HVDC route to connect Scotland's electricity network directly to that of mainland Europe (though there are existing connections from England to mainland Europe), whereas Norway already has interconnectors to Denmark and the Netherlands, with an interconnector to Germany at the planning stage (see NORD.LINK and NorGer). The Scottish landfall is provisionally planned to be at Peterhead in Aberdeenshire, where the connector will join the National Grid.
On 5 March 2013 it was announced that SSE has left the project. The Norwegian government ruled that only Stattnet could own export cables. In 2016, Norway debates rules for export cables. In June 2016, Ofgem approved NorthConnect. Other approvals are still needed. The European Union put NorthConnect on the "Projects of Common Interest" list and supported its development with €10m.