Spanish firm begins another survey for first UK-Germany energy link

An environmental survey is about to commence on the UK side of an interconnector that will link the UK and Germany for the first time.

Spain’s Geociencias y Exploraciones Marítimas (GEM) will perform a survey of the route for the installation of the NeuConnect Interconnector, nominally 705 kilometers, on behalf of the principal cable installation contractor Prysmian.

The survey will be performed in the UK territorial waters and exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in water depths ranging from -3 m to -40 m (LAT).

Activities are estimated to take place between 31 July and 15 August.

The mobilization and demobilization port for the equipment, survey vessel and personnel transfer will be the Queenborough port.

GEM also carried out a geophysical and UXO survey for the interconnector.

With some 725 kilometers of land and subsea cables, NeuConnect will become one of the world’s largest interconnectors once operational by 2028.

Construction on the €2.8 billion project began earlier this month.

The project, led by global investors Meridiam, Allianz Capital Partners, Kansai Electric Power and TEPCO, will allow up to 1.4 GW of electricity to flow in both directions – enough to power up to 1.5 million homes over its lifetime.

It will see the construction of new converter stations on the Isle of Grain in Kent, England, and the Wilhelmshaven region in Lower Saxony, northern Germany, connected by subsea cables passing through British, Dutch and German waters.