NU-Link Consortium

NU-Link Consortium is a project development group focused on cross-border electricity transmission infrastructure. It is the developer behind the proposed NU-Link interconnector, a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) subsea cable conceived to link the electricity systems of Great Britain and the Netherlands. According to Ofgem’s cap and floor documentation, the NU-Link project was designed as a 1.2 GW point-to-point connection from the Mablethorpe 400 kV substation in Lincolnshire, GB, to a Dutch grid connection point, initially described as Vijfhuizen and later updated to Moerdijk. Frontier Power states that it originated and has been developing the NU-Link interconnector together with utility partners from Japan and Germany, positioning the consortium within the interconnector origination and early-stage development segment of the power transmission value chain. Within the UK regulatory framework, NU-Link applied in Ofgem’s third cap and floor application window for electricity interconnectors. Ofgem’s Initial Project Assessment characterised the scheme as a 1.2 GW Mablethorpe–Netherlands link and adopted a “minded-to reject” position on the basis of reservations about project deliverability, including grid connection and timing risks. In its final Window 3 decision, Ofgem maintained this rejection, again citing deliverability concerns and declining to grant a cap and floor regime to the project. In parallel, NU-Link Interconnector UK Ltd obtained a gas interconnector licence from Ofgem in February 2023 to support development of the scheme, but subsequently requested revocation of that licence in mid-2024 after the cap and floor application was unsuccessful. Ofgem reports that no infrastructure had been built and no licence agreements had been signed at the time of revocation, and Frontier Power notes that the NU-Link team is assessing alternative options to continue development outside the Window 3 process.