North Sea Link

About the project

Norway and the UK plan to generate more power from renewable sources in order to meet their domestic and international renewable and climate change targets. The North Sea Link is being created in collaboration between Statnett, the state-owned operator in the Norwegian energy system and the UK’s National Grid. It is designed to help increase opportunities for shared use of renewable energy.

When wind power production in the UK is high, Norway will be able to import power at a lower price than in the Nordic market, helping conserve the water in the country’s hydropower reservoirs. At times when there is little wind in the UK, then it can import Norwegian hydropower at a lower price than in the UK while helping to ensure the security of power supplies.

The North Sea Link will run from Blyth in Northumberland on the northeast coast of the UK to Kvilldal in Rogaland on the Norwegian side. HVDC converter stations on each side will connect the link to the onshore grid.

Nexans' solutions

Nexans has been awarded the contracts for Lot 1 of the NSL – the Fjord submarine section and the Norwegian tunnel/lake and underground cable for the onshore connection on the Norwegian side. With two cable sub-systems, the contract covers the design, manufacture, and installation of some 500 km of mass impregnated non-draining (MIND) HVDC cables at depths down to 600 meters off the coast of Norway. The cables will be laid by Nexans’ own cable-laying vessel, C/S Nexans Skagerrak and protected on the seabed by trenching with Nexans’ Capjet system and rock dumping. Nexans will also provide a shorter length of underground cable for the onshore connection.