UK’s National Grid and Belgian national transmission system operator Elia are the owners of the Nemo Link joint venture (JV), which is undertaking the project to increase energy security for both countries and support renewable energy integration.
Siemens will be responsible building the converter stations in Kent and Zeebrugge using its high-voltage direct current (HVDC) Plus technology. The company will serve and maintain the facilities for a period of five years.
J-Power, a subsidiary of Japan’s Sumitomo Electric Industries, will design, fabricate and install the HVDC XLPE cable system.
The engineering design work and site preparation is due to start later this year while the interconnector is expected to begin operations in 2019.
The line will run 140km between Richborough on the Kent coast and Herdersbrug, near Zeebrugge, with undersea and underground cables. It will deliver enough energy for about 500,000 homes.
Nemo Link board member Alan Foster said: "The use of this state-of-the-art cable technology allied to the very efficient converter stations will make Nemo Link the most innovative interconnector in Europe, bringing new supplies of competitively-priced electricity to the market."
Nemo Link will provide a third interconnector between UK and Europe. A 2GW link to France and 1GMW link to the Netherlands are currently in operation.
