Cable manufacturer and installer Sumitomo Electric Industries has announced the successful completion of its part in the Greenlink Interconnector project.
Sumitomo provided high-voltage direct current (HVDC) cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) cables for submarine and underground electricity interconnection and fibre optic cables for Greenlink.
This included onshore HVDC cables along a 24km route in Ireland and a 6 km route in Wales, and submarine cables along a 160km offshore route.
The project links the existing electricity grids in Ireland and the United Kingdom, providing a new grid connection between Great Island in County Wexford, Ireland, and Pembrokeshire in Wales, UK.
All testing and commissioning has been undertaken by Sumitomo which has handed over the cable system to consortium partner Siemens Energy—the consortium was awarded the EPC contract in September 2021—and trial operations will begin in the next few months.
Greenlink CEO, James O’Reilly, said: “Greenlink is immensely pleased that Sumitomo Electric has completed all onshore and offshore HVDC cable installation work ahead of schedule. We eagerly look forward to the successful testing and commissioning of the project later this year.”
Both Siemens and Sumitomo have experience working on interconnector projects, with the latter having successfully commissioned a 1000MW HVDC interconnector between the UK and Belgium in 2019.
Siemens unveiled plans at the end of 2022 to connect the Irish energy grid directly to continental Europe for the first time, via a 575km interconnector running through the Celtic Sea.
Interconnection and energy security
Interconnectors provide stability to the electricity grid, enabling surplus clean energy to be traded and shared between countries and help manage surges in demand in both countries.
Interconnection plays a key role in the capacity Market (CM), as evidenced in Ofgem’s annual report on capacity market operation: New Build and Existing Interconnector CMUs together represented 15% of total Capacity entering the Auction. Both these CMU types had 100% of its offered Capacity secure Capacity Agreements.
Following final approval from Ofgem, the Eastern Green Link 2 (EGL2) has been hailed as the UK’s “largest electricity transmission project ever.” The 525kV, 2GW HVDC subsea transmission cable, due to be completed later this year, will transport electricity between Peterhead in Scotland and Drax in England.
In July, the Nuclear Industry Association (NIA) revealed that its analysis of Nation Grid ESO data showed the UK will import a record amount of electricity in 2024, beating the record set in 2021 by almost 50%.
Net electricity imports to Britain hit a new high of 9TWh in Q1 2024, and imports totalled 14.95TWh between January and May of this year, accounting for 15% of British electricity.
At-home renewables development is the only way to avoid a situation where the nation is reliant on imports: increasing geopolitical tensions and extreme weather events driving competition for gas has meant that Ofgem’s price cap for the final quarter of 2024 rose 10% on the previous quarter.
Speaking about the impending energy bill increase, Secretary of state for the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), Ed Miliband, said: “The only solution to get bills down and greater energy independence is the government’s mission for clean, homegrown power.”
