The UK’s first subsea electricity interconnector to Belgium, Nemo Link, is now live and power has been flowing from Belgium to the UK since January 31, National Grid announced in the press release.
Nemo Link is the first of four interconnector projects being developed under the cap and floor regulation, collectively representing a total investment by National Grid of £2.1 billion ($2.75 billion).
During the construction of Nemo Link, teams were faced with several challenges including finding more than 1,200 potential explosives on the seabed and beaches. Many of these dated back to World War 2 and had to be detonated by Royal Navy dive teams.
Since construction began in 2015 more than 1,400 engineers and project specialists have worked on the project with over 2.6 million hours spent on the project (excluding manufacturing).
More than 750,000 man hours were spent building the new 12.5-mile overhead line, substations and associated works for the Richborough Connection.
A total of £200 m was invested in two new high voltage substations and 60 new pylons between Richborough and Canterbury to carry the 161 miles of cables needed to join Nemo Link to National Grid’s transmission network.
In November, the company announced it had been given financial approval for the construction of the 1,400 megawatt Viking Link which will connect the UK with Denmark.
Source: National Grid