NeuConnect delivers all 14 transformers to UK and German sites
NeuConnect has reached another major construction milestone with Siemens Energy completing the delivery of all 14 transformers that will help to power the vital new UK-German energy link.
Led by global investors Meridiam, Allianz, Kansai Electric Power and TEPCO, the £2.4bn/€2.8bn NeuConnect project will form an ‘invisible energy highway’ between two of Europe’s largest energy markets, with new Converter Stations being built on the Isle of Grain in Kent and Wilhelmshaven in northern Germany to be connected by 725km of subsea cables. The high voltage direct current (HVDC) link will allow 1.4GW of electricity – enough to power up to 1.5 million homes – to flow in either direction, helping to boost energy security and integrating UK and German renewable energy sources.
With NeuConnect approaching the third anniversary since major construction work began in summer 2023, the project has seen a range of progress in recent weeks including:
All 14 transformers now delivered to UK and German sites
- At NeuConnect’s Converter Stations in the UK and Germany, a total of 14 transformers (7 in each country) are needed to help adapt the voltage so that it can be fed into the UK and German electricity grids
- This week, the 7th and final transformer was delivered by Siemens Energy to NeuConnect’s Converter Station site in Wilhelmshaven, Germany – this follows the delivery of all 7 transformers to the UK site earlier this year
- Each huge transformer measures 7 metres long by 5 metres tall and weighs over 200 tonnes – the equivalent weight to a passenger train or a large house
- All 14 transformers were transported from Siemens Energy’s factories in Nuremberg by barge along the Rhine to Rotterdam, with seven then shipped to Wilhelmshaven, Germany and seven to the isle of Grain in the UK. Each of the transformers were then taken by road to the UK and German sites respectively
UK and German Converter Station structures take shape
- The construction of the main Converter Station structures in the UK and Germany are also making good progress
- The 24-meter-high and 70-meter-wide converter station buildings in both countries have now reached full height, with cladding works well underway
More than 300km of subsea cabling now laid
- The world’s largest cable laying vessel – Prysmian Leonardo da Vinci – is continuing NeuConnect’s huge 700km subsea cabling programme
- Main contractor Prysmian has now laid more than 300km of subsea cabling in total, with all cabling now in place in UK waters and works continuing in Dutch waters
- Cable laying on the German side is also progressing well, with works to install 12km of cabling between the North Sea coast and the converter station in Fedderwarden nearing completion
NeuConnect CEO Arnaud Grévoz said: “The delivery of all 14 transformers was a huge task and completes another important milestone in this vital new energy link. With the construction of our onshore buildings reaching full height, and more than 300km of cabling now laid at sea, we are making good progress and remain firmly on track.”
Read more at www.neuconnect-interconnector.com.
