Progress pushes ahead on £2.4bn NeuConnect project

Work is progressing on the £2.4bn NeuConnect project - a vital new energy link between the UK and Germany that will connect two of Europe’s largest energy markets for the first time.

New aerial photos have been released that show the latest construction progress on the project – which remains on track. 

Led by global investors Meridiam, Allianz Capital Partners, Kansai Electric Power and TEPCO, NeuConnect will become one of the world’s largest interconnectors.

Some 725km of land and subsea cables will form an ‘invisible energy highway’ between the UK and Germany. 

NeuConnect is expected to be operational by 2028, allowing up to 1.4GW of electricity to flow in either direction, helping to boost energy security and resilience while also helping to integrate renewable energy sources in both countries.

The project will construct new converter stations on the Isle of Grain in Kent, and the Wilhelmshaven region in Lower Saxony, northern Germany, connected by subsea cables travelling through British, Dutch and German waters. 

Main contractors, Prysmian Group and Siemens Energy, began construction works in the UK over the summer with progress already made. 

NeuConnect’s cabling contractor Prysmian has started Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) works that will allow the subsea cables to be brought on land. 

The first HDD pits have now been constructed at the Isle of Grain, with the HDD rig being set up and drilling to start shortly - HDD works in the UK are on track to be completed by the end of the year.

UK converter station works are also under way. Further inland from the HDD works at the Isle of Grain, NeuConnect’s contractor Siemens Energy is making good progress on the site of a new electricity converter station.

The platform for the new converter station is nearly completed which will connect to a main access road where work is well underway. The first of two attenuation ponds has also now been fully excavated, with work on the second pond starting shortly. The construction of the UK converter station will start next year.

Work is also making good progress in Germany. Work is nearing completion on an access road that will connect to the new converter station in Wilhelmshaven, Lower Saxony, northern Germany, with preliminary groundworks also under way. 

Major construction in Germany will start early next year.

NeuConnect CEO Arnaud Grévoz said: “We have continued to make good progress since major construction work started over the summer, and these new aerial photos offer an early glimpse of the NeuConnect project beginning to take shape. 

“With works well under way in Germany and the UK, the delivery of this vital new energy link remains firmly on track.”