Massive Contracts Awarded for First Direct UK-German Electricity Connection

The developers of the Neuconnect Interconnector – a novel 720-kilometer land and underwater cable link between the United Kingdom and Germany – have announced that EUR 1.9 billion will go to Italy’s Prysmian Group and German multinational Siemens. It will run from the Isle of Grain in Kent in the UK to the northern German state of Lower Saxony.

Prysmian will design, manufacture, install, test and commission the connector, while Siemens Energy will design and build two converter stations in Germany and the UK. The cable will move as much as 1.4 gigawatts of electricity, enough to power 1.5 million homes, and has been called an “invisible highway.”

The company Neuconnect promises that the connection will bolster energy diversification, reduce costs and cut CO2 emissions by 16 megatons in the two markets over 25 years. The project is privately financed and backed by global investors.

“The electricity connection between Great Britain and Germany will ensure greater security and flexibility for both countries,” Siemens Energy Vice President of HV Grinds, GB&I Mark Pilling in a statement. “It’s a perfect example that we can only achieve the energy transition by working together.”

“Further expansion of the European electricity grid is necessary to optimally exploit the potential of renewables in Europe, and at the same time it contributes to energy security and helps avoid supply shortages,” says Germany Trade & Invest Energy, Construction and Environmental Technologies Director Thomas Grigoleit. “The planned Neuconnect cable is potentially a major step in this direction.”