Ofgem has approved five new undersea energy links to boost energy security and the shift to clean power.

Britain is expected to be a net exporter of energy by 2030 according to analysis by both Ofgem and the National Energy System Operator (NESO) due to the growing amount of renewable generation. However, it will need to import at times to balance low generation periods.

The greenlit projects will provide additional channels for exporting in times of energy surplus and importing during times of more limited domestic supply. Two of the projects will also create the first ever Offshore Hybrid Assets (OHAs) which can directly feed energy generated by offshore wind farms into both UK and Continental grids.

The new OHAs will maximise the efficiency of both interconnection and transmission by providing one-stop connections which can transmit electricity from windfarms to grids when they are generating, and which can provide more interconnector capacity at other times.

They will also cut down on the footprint of infrastructure needed by combining both interconnection and offshore wind connection into a single asset, thereby reducing community and environmental impacts as well as costs.

Akshay Kaul, director general for infrastructure at Ofgem, said: “As we shift to a clean power system more reliant on intermittent wind and solar energy, these new connections will help harness the vast potential of the North Sea and play a key role in making our energy supply cheaper and less reliant on volatile foreign gas markets and associated price spikes.”

The greenlit new projects are:
Interconnectors: Tarchon Energy Interconnector this 610km subsea cable between East Anglia and Niederlangen, Germany would deliver upto 1.4GW of electricity capacity.
Mares Connect this 190km subsea cable between Bodelwyddan, North Wales, to the Republic of Ireland, which will deliver 0.75GW of additional electricity capacity.
LirIC this approximately 142km subsea electricity interconnector between Kilroot in Northern Ireland to Hunterston in Ayrshire, Scotland will deliver 0.7GW of additional electricity capacity.
OHA (Offshore Hybrid Assets): LionLink this OHA will connect Dutch offshore windfarms to the grid with an onshore landing point in Suffolk and providing up to 1.8GW of clean electricity to each country.
Nautilus, this OHA will connect Belgium offshore windfarms to the grid, coming ashore at the Isle of Grain in Kent, and providing up to 1.4GW of offshore wind to each country through subsea electricity cables.

Currently there are nine operational interconnectors, four of which are operating under Ofgem’s cap and floor regime (Nemo, IFA2, NSL, Viking Link).

The new projects are all expected to be complete and operational by the end of 2032, and by that date there could be 18 operational interconnectors able to import over 18GW of capacity if all those Ofgem projects with regulatory approval complete on schedule.

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