The project, named LionLink, is expected to provide enough clean electricity to power 1.8 million homes – more than Birmingham and Manchester combined.
The power line is the second-largest cross-border electricity line ever built, after the one that currently connects Germany and Denmark. However, LionLink will be able to carry more than four times the amount of electricity as its predecessor – making it the largest of its kind in terms of capacity anywhere in the world, according to government sources.
While normal interconnectors only connect two countries, the multipurpose LionLink will join the UK and Netherlands to each other as well as simultaneously with offshore wind farms situated in the North Sea.
The construction of the power line was announced by the UK government at the same time as energy security secretary Grant Shapps leads a British business delegation to the North Sea Summit in Belgium. The summit will see nine countries – the UK, Belgium...