UK, Netherlands plan 2-GW cross-border offshore wind link

National Grid and TenneT have unveiled plans for LionLink, an innovative cross-border direct current cable that will connect offshore wind between the UK and the Netherlands.

The UK and Dutch grid operators made the announcement as nine countries are meeting today at a North Sea summit in Belgium to step up offshore wind ambitions.

The LionLink project is a multi-purpose or hybrid interconnector that will connect up to 2 GW of offshore wind capacity between the British and Dutch electricity systems. It will be only the second hybrid interconnector in the world and significantly larger than its predecessor, Germany and Denmark’s 400-MW Kriegers Flag link that connects two offshore substations in the Baltic Sea.

According to an announcement by the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, LionLink will carry 1.8 GW of electricity and will be operational by the early 2030s. National Grid and TenneT expect a final investment decision to be made in the middle of the decade.

The two grid companies said that LionLink will be included as a key project in today’s North Sea Energy Declaration. It is seen as the first step towards developing an integrated electricity grid in the North Sea.

The UK and EU together aim to have 110 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030.

“It is our conviction that offshore hubs configured in a meshed DC [direct current] grid must form the backbone of the North Sea powerhouse,” said TenneT chief executive Manon van Beek.

“Connecting wind farms to multiple markets simultaneously is a game changer for energy infrastructure and brings us one step closer to realising the enormous green energy potential of the North Sea,” added National Grid Ventures president Ben Wilson.

UK Energy Security Secretary Grant Shapps commented: “Together with the strong ties we have with our northern European neighbours united today at the North Sea Summit, we are bolstering our energy security and sending a strong signal to Putin’s Russia that the days of his dominance over global power markets are well and truly over.”

The British and Dutch energy markets have been connected since 2011 through the BritNed point-to-point interconnector.

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