In a major boost for energy security and the shift to clean
power, Ofgem has today (Tuesday 12 November) approved five major
new undersea energy links which will further harness the vast
potential of North Sea wind and help power millions of homes.
With Great Britain expected to be a net exporter of energy by
2030* the greenlit projects will capitalise on the growing amount
of homegrown wind power by providing additional channels for
exporting in times of energy surplus and importing during times
of more limited domestic supply. Two of the projects will also
create Great Britain's first ever Offshore Hybrid Assets (OHAs)
which can directly feed energy generated by offshore wind farms
into both our own and European grids.
The new connections will keep consumer costs as low as possible
through Ofgem's cap and floor rules which limit revenue for
interconnectors.
Additionally, the new OHAs will:
- Maximise the efficiency of both interconnection and
transmission by providing one-stop connections which can transmit
electricity from windfarms to grids when they are generating, and
which can provide more interconnector capacity at other times.
- Cut down on the footprint of infrastructure needed by
combining both interconnection and offshore wind connection into
a single asset, thereby reducing community and environmental
impacts as well as costs.
- Make Great Britain a world leader in this emerging new energy
technology.
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.”
The greenlit new projects are:
Interconnectors:
-
Tarchon Energy
Interconnector this
610km subsea cable between East Anglia and
Niederlangen, Germany would deliver
upto 1.4GW of electricity capacity.
-
Mares
Connect this 190km subsea cable
between Bodelwyddan, North Wales, to
the Republic of Ireland, which will deliver
0.75GW of additional electricity capacity
-
LirIC
this approximately 142km subsea electricity
interconnector between Kilroot in Northern Ireland to
Hunterston in Ayrshire, Scotland will deliver 0.7GW of
additional electricity capacity
OHA (Offshore Hybrid Assets)
-
LionLink this OHA
will connect Dutch offshore windfarms to the GB grid with an
onshore landing point in Suffolk and providing upto 1.8GW of
clean electricity to each country
-
Nautilus, this
OHA will connect Belgium offshore windfarms to the GB grid,
coming ashore at the Isle of Grain in Kent, and providing upto
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.
