King Charles III and German President highlight NeuConnect during historic Royal state visit
NeuConnect – the first direct energy link between the UK and Germany – was this week honoured to be mentioned by King Charles III and German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in speeches made during His Majesty The King’s historic state visit to Germany.
Speaking at a reception at Schloss Bellevue in Berlin on Wednesday 29th March, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier welcomed King Charles III to Germany and said:
“As important and long-standing as German-British relations are, it is only this year that our countries will become truly linked to each other. In 2023, construction work on a submarine cable between the Isle of Grain and Wilhelmshaven is due to begin – and in just a few years’ time, electricity will flow for the first time between the United Kingdom and Germany.
“This first direct power link between our two countries, between two of the largest energy markets in Europe, is a key project [and] highlights how closely Germany and the United Kingdom are working together to make our economies climate-neutral. I regard this as an encouraging example – just as Your Majesty’s visit to Germany is encouraging.”
This was followed by King Charles III’s historic speech at the German Bundestag on Thursday 30th March in which His Majesty The King said:
“Faced with so many shared challenges, the United Kingdom and Germany are together providing leadership to secure our shared future. Today, the United Kingdom and Germany are Europe’s two largest producers of power from offshore wind.
“Many German firms are involved in the production and erection of turbines off the British coast. The North Sea, across which our people have travelled and traded for generations, is soon to be the site of a new interconnector allowing us directly to trade electricity.”
Separately to the Royal visit, NeuConnect was also this week mentioned in the UK Government’s new “Powering Up Britain” strategy that sets out the Government’s work “to strengthen Britain’s long-term energy security and independence to help deliver clean, prosperous future for the country”. Within the new strategy, the Government highlights the work of the new UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB) noting that:
“UKIB is now operational and, as of 27 March 2023, has announced 12 deals, investing approximately £1.2 billion and unlocking over £5 billion of private capital. Projects that contribute towards meeting net zero include […] Investing in the UK portion of finance for the 1.4GW NeuConnect interconnector project”.
Led by global investors Meridiam, Allianz Capital Partners, Kansai Electric Power and TEPCO, NeuConnect will become one of the world’s largest interconnectors with 725km of land and subsea cables forming an ‘invisible energy highway’ to connect two of Europe’s largest energy markets for the first time.
The £2.4bn NeuConnect project reached Financial Close in July 2022 with a global consortium of banks and financial institutions, with early site works now well underway in the UK and Germany, keeping the project on track to start major construction later this year. NeuConnect is due to become operational in 2028. For further information on the NeuConnect project, please visit neuconnect-interconnector.com