NeuConnect has reached another key construction milestone with Siemens Energy delivering the final transformer for the project’s UK-Germany HVDC interconnector. The last of 14 transformers has now arrived, completing the equipment deliveries needed for the converter stations on the Isle of Grain in Kent and in Wilhelmshaven, northern Germany.
The £2.4bn / €2.8bn project is designed to create an “invisible energy highway” between two of Europe’s largest power markets. Once complete, the 1.4 GW link will be able to move electricity in either direction, while supporting energy security and helping integrate renewable generation on both sides of the North Sea.
Each transformer measures about 7 metres long and 5 metres high and weighs more than 200 tonnes. The units were manufactured in Nuremberg, moved by barge via the Rhine to Rotterdam, and then shipped onward to the UK and German sites by road. Seven transformers were delivered to each country.
Construction is also advancing on the converter stations themselves, with the main buildings now at full height and cladding work underway. At sea, Prysmian’s Leonardo da Vinci cable-laying vessel has now installed more than 300 km of subsea cable, with all UK marine cabling laid and work continuing in Dutch waters. On the German side, cable installation toward the Fedderwarden converter station is nearing completion.
NeuConnect CEO Arnaud Grévoz said the project remains on track as it moves toward its planned commissioning phase.
