Wide range of UK companies involved in delivery of vital new UK-German energy link

NeuConnect – a vital new energy link between the UK and Germany – is continuing to make good construction progress with new photos showing the steel structure of the project’s UK Converter Station starting to take shape above ground.

Led by global investors Meridiam, Allianz, Kansai Electric Power and TEPCO, the £2.4bn/€2.8bn NeuConnect project will be one of the world’s largest interconnectors – new Converter Stations being built on the Isle of Grain in Kent and Wilhelmshaven in northern Germany will be connected by 725km of subsea cables, forming  an ‘invisible energy highway’ between two of Europe’s largest energy markets. The new link will allow 1.4GW of electricity – enough to power up to 1.5 million homes – to flow in either direction, helping to boost energy security and integrating UK and German renewable energy sources.

Construction work at NeuConnect’s UK site on the Isle of Grain is being led by main contractor Siemens Energy – key elements of the works and recent progress includes:

• NeuConnect’s UK onshore site will be comprised of a main Converter Station building (that includes two Converter Halls, a Control Building and Transformer Bays) and a separate Gas Insulated Switchgear (GIS) hall to house high-voltage electrical equipment.
• ‘Super structure’ works are now well underway on the first of the Converter Halls that will from part of the Converter Station, with structural steel sections being erected that will help to form the 24 metre-high, 79 metre-wide building. In addition, work is well underway on installing pre-cast concrete panels to help form the structure of the Control building.
• The UK Converter Station works will see more than 2,000 tonnes of steel installed in total, featuring over 8,000 sections, the heaviest of which weight more than three tonnes. More than 120,000 structural bolts will be used to fit the steel elements together.
• The UK Converter Station works are also helping to create important supply chain opportunities for UK companies, with Kent-based Gallagher Group and Kent-based Now Construction working on the pre-cast concrete and steel erection on site, and Nottingham-based Caunton Engineering manufacturing and supplying all of the structural steel from their factory in the East Midlands.
• Along with the onshore works at the Isle of Grain, main contractor Prysmian starting to install the next phase of NeuConnect’s subsea cabling in UK waters. Meanwhile on NeuConnect’s Converter Station construction site in Germany, the first control building is also starting to take shape and work to install 12km of onshore cabling from the North Sea to the Converter Station near Wilhelmshaven is also progressing well, with 24 of 31 horizontal drillings completed.

NeuConnect CEO Arnaud Grévoz said: “With our UK Converter Station structure now appearing above ground and making good progress, we are seeing the first energy link between the UK and Germany start to take shape. NeuConnect is not only a vital energy connection for Europe, it is also creating important supply chain opportunities for UK companies, and it is great to see a range of local and national suppliers play their part in NeuConnect’s continued construction progress.”

The NeuConnect project is expected to be ready for test operations in 2027 and to be fully operational by 2028. For further information on NeuConnect, please visit neuconnect-interconnector.com.