NeuConnect Interconnector

NeuConnect is launching its annual UK Community Fund with a donation for much-needed repairs to Isle of Grain Village Hall

The NeuConnect team is thrilled to announce the launch of the British side of the NeuConnect Community Fund. Each year, the NeuConnect Community Fund will provide financial support to local projects and initiatives that will directly benefit the areas in which NeuConnect is being constructed and operating in. The team is pleased to shared that it will be awarding the first grant to the Isle of Grain Parish Council for works to the Grain Village Hall roof, gutters, soffits and fascias.

The NeuConnect Interconnector will create the first direct power link between Germany and Great Britain, connecting two of Europe’s largest energy markets for the first time. Around 725km of land and subsea cables will form an ‘invisible highway’ allowing up to 1.4GW of electricity to move in either direction between a new substation on the Isle of Grain and the Fedderwarden substation in Wilhelmshaven.

NeuConnect and its investors are proud to deliver a project that will create significant environmental, economic and consumer benefits in Germany and the UK – in line with this, projects to be supported by the NeuConnect Community Fund will need to clearly demonstrate the sustainable, long-term benefits they offer to local communities including:

• Environmental benefits such as the efficient use of energy, protection of the environment and promoting environmental matters
• Social benefits such as providing important facilities, creating education and employment opportunities and offering opportunities to support the local area
• The encouragement of continued Anglo-German relations.

Arnaud Grévoz, CEO of NeuConnect, stated: ‘As a major infrastructure project, NeuConnect values being a good neighbour to local communities and has established a Community Fund to provide financial support to local projects and initiatives.

‘The NeuConnect team is looking forward to seeing the benefits of the Community Fund and how it will help the local community in Medway!’

NeuConnect welcomes submissions to the Community from the local community in the next few months, with a particular focus on the Isle of Grain and the Hoo Peninsula. Local applications for the Fund will be considered by a local Steering Group. To find out more, visit www.neuconnect-interconnector.com/community-fund.

In November, NeuConnect announced the completion of the first phase of UK construction works on the Isle of Grain. NeuConnect contractor Prysmian began Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) works on the Isle of Grain in Summer of 2023, and carried out over 12,000 construction hours with sub-contractor HDI (Horizontal Drilling International).
 
HDD is a trenchless method used to install cables underground without disturbing the surface. The drill enters the ground at one end of the designated bore path, runs parallel to the surface, and exits it at the other end. The cable is then pulled through the borehole. NeuConnect is using HDD for a short distance at the landfall site, where the subsea cables transition to the onshore underground cables, minimising the impact to the surface and the Isle of Grain’s local environment.