Atlantic SuperConnection

By 2 September 2024, ASC Energy, the developer of Atlantic SuperConnection, had secured initial bids from HVDC cable manufacturers and HVDC converter station suppliers for the 1,794 MW interconnector. These bids represent a significant step in the project’s procurement preparations ahead of a planned Final Investment Decision and subsequent construction.

By April 2023, Atlantic SuperConnection’s project company ASC Energy Limited had issued 2056 Index Linked Sustainable GreenBonds with an aggregate value of approximately £2.77 million, guaranteed by Global InterConnection Group Target. These long-dated green bonds form part of the project’s initial financing structure, providing index-linked debt funding dedicated to the Atlantic SuperConnection interconnector.

By 19 April 2023, Atlantic SuperConnection had completed a full seabed survey to ascertain the optimal subsea cable route between Iceland and the UK. The work, carried out along a corridor of roughly 1,470 km with widely varying water depths, provided detailed bathymetric and geophysical mapping that now underpins the project’s optimal cable routing and engineering design.

Technical feasibility studies and conceptual design for the Atlantic SuperConnection interconnector were completed and feasibility formally confirmed through reports prepared by RTE International. By April 2023, the developer reported that these studies, together with the seabed route survey and grid connection agreement, demonstrated that the 1.8 GW Iceland–UK HVDC link is technically feasible and ready to progress toward later development stages and financing.

Disruptive Capital Acquisition Company Limited (DCAC) entered into a definitive business combination agreement on 19 April 2023 to acquire 100% of the issued and outstanding share capital of Global InterConnection Group SA, whose seed assets include the Atlantic SuperConnection interconnector project. The consideration consists primarily of new DCAC ordinary shares valued at approximately £287.9 million, with additional arrangements including a small refundable advance in Swiss francs, and completion of the transaction was indicated as expected in June 2023.

By April 2023, Atlantic SuperConnection had completed a full seabed survey to ascertain and map the optimal subsea cable route between Iceland and the UK. The completed geophysical campaign, referenced in later strategy and project overviews as "full seabed survey mapping" for the Atlantic SuperConnection route, underpins the confirmed technical feasibility of the 1.8 GW interconnector and feeds into detailed route design and permitting.

In its 2014 response to Ofgem, Atlantic Superconnection Corporation outlined a development schedule for the Atlantic SuperConnection interconnector in which construction was planned to start in 2017/2018 and commissioning of the link was expected in 2021/2022, implying entry into full commercial operation around 2022 once the HVDC cable and associated infrastructure were completed and tested.

In September 2022, RTE International (RTEi), the international arm of the French transmission system operator RTE, was appointed as Owner’s Engineer for the Atlantic SuperConnection interconnector between Iceland and the UK. RTEi’s subsequent studies confirmed the technical feasibility of the 1.8 GW HVDC link, providing a key technical validation for the project and underpinning further development work and engagement with investors and stakeholders.

Atlantic SuperConnection entered into a formal National Grid Connection Agreement with National Grid Electricity System Operator Limited on 29 March 2019, securing approval to connect a 1 GW HVDC interconnector cable from Iceland to the GB transmission system. This agreement, which underpins the project’s grid access near Hull, is cited by the developer as a key asset validating prior development expenditure and enabling progression of the UK–Iceland link concept.

In its August 2014 response to Ofgem, Atlantic Superconnection Corporation set out a delivery schedule for the Atlantic SuperConnection interconnector under which construction of the link would start in 2017/18, following seabed surveys in 2015 and detailed design work through 2016, with commissioning targeted for 2021/2022.

In its August 2014 response to Ofgem’s consultation on the future of electricity interconnection, Atlantic Superconnection Corporation stated that its final investment decision (FID) for the proposed Iceland–UK interconnector was planned for 2016, as part of a timetable that included seabed surveys in 2015, detailed design work through 2016, construction starting in 2017/18 and commissioning in 2021/22. This signalled the developers’ intended schedule for securing full project financing and formally committing to build the Atlantic SuperConnection, although this FID has not yet been reported as taken.

MMT (Sweden), together with Reach Subsea, began the offshore route survey for the Atlantic SuperConnection UK–Iceland HVDC interconnector in mid‑2015, following a contract award by Atlantic Superconnection Corporation (ASC). The campaign, using the Surveyor Interceptor ROV from the vessel Stril Explorer and the survey vessel Franklin, mobilised to carry out bathymetric and geophysical mapping along the entire approximately 1,470 km route corridor between Iceland and England over a planned two‑month period, as the first step in assessing the project’s feasibility.

Atlantic Superconnection Corporation submitted a formal response to Ofgem’s consultation on the future of electricity interconnection and the proposed cap and floor regime, outlining the regulatory and financing needs of the planned Iceland–UK HVDC interconnector. In this submission, the developer requested early engagement with Ofgem, argued for exemptions under Article 17 of Regulation (EC) 714/2009, and set out an indicative timetable and investment requirements to enable the project to proceed.