Scotland Okays RE Power Link With Norway

The Scottish Government has given the green light for a new power link connecting Scotland with Norway. The NorthConnect interconnector will have a total capacity of 1.4GW, enabling electricity to be transmitted both ways between Britain and Scandinavia and maximizing renewable generation. The project will link hydropower from Norway with wind energy from Scotland.

The Subsea cables of the North Connect Project will link Peterhead to Norway by a 415-mile cable which will go under the North Sea from Simadalen in Norway to a site near Boddam.

The project will boost the renewable energy markets in Scotland and Europe. NorthConnect chief executive Martin Reinholdsson said: “We are extremely pleased to have reached this important milestone in the project.

“I hope we can conclude on more achievements like this during the year and in 2020 begin building what will prove to be a very important link for the economies of both Scotland and Norway, and also for Britain and the whole Nordic region.”

In an official report the Aberdeenshire council’s infrastructure chief Stephen Archer said the huge connection would be able to transmit electricity either way across the sea.

“The interconnector will allow energy to be shared between Scotland and Norway, meaning hydropower from Norway can be transferred to Scotland when local renewable sources such as wind power cannot meet demand, and vice versa for periods where Norwegian sources are struggling.This ensures security of supply whilst using renewable sources which helps meet the aims and targets.”

The project is expected to be completed in 2022 and NorthConnect is looking to become operational in 2023/24. The parties have already begun the process of finding suitable contractors to deliver this strategically important energy project. This makes it the second project that UK has planned for RE. Last month, Nemo Link connecting the UK with Belgium entered commercial operation. Nemo Link has constructed an electrical interconnector between the UK and Belgium known as the Nemo Link interconnector with the objective to operate it afterwards during 25 years.

Image Courtesy: JDR cables