NorthConnect planned for its 1.4 GW, approximately 665 km HVDC subsea interconnector between Peterhead in eastern Scotland and western Norway (Simadalen/Samnanger) to enter commercial operation around 2023/24, enabling bidirectional electricity exchange between the Scottish and Norwegian markets and supporting grid stability in both countries.
In March 2023, the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy refused NorthConnect’s licence application for the 1.4 GW Scotland–Norway interconnector, concluding that establishing a new overseas cable would not support Norwegian energy security and thereby preventing the project from proceeding.
Following Aberdeenshire Council’s approval of the onshore infrastructure and completion of key UK permitting steps, NorthConnect stated that construction of the 1.4 GW Scotland–Norway HVDC interconnector was due to start in 2023, as part of its plan to deliver the subsea link between Peterhead in Scotland and Norway with operation targeted for 2023/24.
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NorthConnect is a developer-led proposal for a long-distance HVDC subsea interconnector between eastern Scotland and western Norway. The project is designed as a bipolar HVDC link with a nominal capacity of 1,400 MW and an approximate subsea route of roughly 650–665 km. Proposed UK infrastructure...
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Northconnect, North Connect, Scotland–Norway interconnector, Scotland-Norway interconnector, TYNDP 190, Project 190 - NorthConnect, Project 190, PCI 1.10, 1.10-0016-UKNO-S-M-16
On 15 December 2022, Ofgem announced its decision to withdraw the cap and floor regime previously awarded in principle to the NorthConnect interconnector, citing significant project delays and no realistic prospect of delivery in the assessed form, thereby removing this regulated revenue support.
By the end of 2021, Norway’s finance minister publicly stated that the government had no intention of processing NorthConnect’s licence application, signalling a sustained political decision not to advance regulatory approval for the Scotland–Norway interconnector.
By 2019, after securing key UK marine and planning consents, the NorthConnect consortium stated that it hoped to make a final investment decision on the 1.4 GW Scotland–Norway interconnector in 2020, but this decision had not yet occurred and remained a future target at that time.
On 30 March 2020, applications were submitted to Marine Scotland for variations to the existing NorthConnect marine licences 06771 and 06870 covering cable installation between Peterhead and Simadalen.
On 25 March 2020, the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy sent a letter to NorthConnect stating that its licence applications for the proposed 1.4 GW Scotland–Norway interconnector would not be processed at that time, effectively putting the project on hold while Norway reassessed the impacts of additional export cables, amid concerns about domestic power prices and grid costs.
In February 2019, the Scottish Government, through Marine Scotland, granted marine licences for the approximately 665 km NorthConnect HVDC interconnector, completing the UK marine permitting process for the project.
An application for marine licences for the NorthConnect HVDC cable installation between Peterhead, Scotland and Simadalen, Norway (licence numbers 06771 and 06870) was submitted to Marine Scotland’s Licensing Operations Team.
Marine Scotland’s Licensing Operations Team opened a public and stakeholder consultation on the NorthConnect marine licence applications for the HVDC cable between Peterhead and Simadalen, inviting comments by 5 October 2018.
In January 2018, Ofgem awarded in principle a cap and floor revenue regime to the proposed 1.4 GW NorthConnect interconnector between Norway and Great Britain under its second application window, setting a regulated revenue framework for the project subject to delivery conditions.
NorthConnect submitted a multi‑volume Environmental Impact Assessment Report, including supporting studies and a Habitats Regulations Appraisal, to Marine Scotland in support of its marine licence applications for the HVDC cable.
NorthConnect submitted a licence application in Norway in 2017 to establish the 650 km, 1.4 GW HVDC interconnector between Scotland and Norway.
In February 2017, the European Union, via the Connecting Europe Facility infrastructure programme, agreed to part‑fund the NorthConnect Scotland–Norway interconnector’s development phase with more than €10 million, providing grant support to advance project design and permitting.
NorthConnect (Project 190), a planned 650 km, 1,400 MW, 500 kV HVDC subsea interconnector between Sima in western Norway and Peterhead in eastern Scotland, was listed as a mid-term project in ENTSO-E’s 2016 Ten-Year Network Development Plan, with a design-stage status and indicative commissioning date of 2022.
UK energy regulator Ofgem granted NorthConnect an electricity interconnector licence for the planned 1.4 GW subsea power cable linking Boddam in Aberdeenshire with Eidfjord in Norway.
By 2015, the NorthConnect consortium had undertaken a desktop marine survey to refine the subsea cable route corridor between Peterhead in eastern Scotland and Norway. The study identified Sandford Bay, south of Peterhead Harbour, as the proposed landfall and outlined a preliminary onshore route for the buried DC cables along the A90 to a proposed converter station site south of the existing SHETL substation, forming the basis for subsequent detailed route design.
By 2015, NorthConnect remained on the European Union’s official Projects of Common Interest list, confirming its continued PCI status as a priority cross-border electricity interconnector project between Norway and Scotland.
Aberdeenshire Council granted planning permission for NorthConnect’s onshore infrastructure south of Peterhead, approving an electricity converter station and associated underground cables at Boddam to connect the subsea interconnector into the Scottish grid.
Following its PCI designation, the NorthConnect Norway–Scotland HVDC interconnector was included in the 2014 ENTSO-E Ten-Year Network Development Plan (TYNDP), integrating it into the coordinated long-term planning of European transmission infrastructure.
In 2013 the NorthConnect subsea HVDC interconnector between Simadalen in Norway and Peterhead in Scotland was formally designated by the European Union as a Project of Common Interest (PCI) under the TEN-E framework, recognising it as an important cross-border infrastructure for advancing the EU’s internal energy market and climate objectives.
On 31 January 2013, SSE plc announced that it would withdraw from the NorthConnect interconnector project and no longer have any financial involvement, in order to focus on its core markets in Britain and Ireland and amid uncertainty over interconnector regulation. The remaining partners—Vattenfall, E-CO Energi, Agder Energi and Lyse—stated that SSE’s exit would not affect their plans to continue developing the Scotland–Norway cable.
NorthConnect indicated it was shortly to submit a UK outline planning application in January 2013 for the onshore elements of the Norway–UK HVDC interconnector.
In a December 2012 response letter to Ofgem, NorthConnect stated it was about to submit a Norwegian concession application in December 2012 for the proposed 1.4 GW HVDC interconnector between Norway and the UK.
By 14 December 2012, the NorthConnect consortium had submitted a grid connection application in the UK for its planned 1,400 MW HVDC interconnector to connect at Peterhead in north-east Scotland and had received a corresponding grid connection offer, marking a key early development milestone for the project.
In May 2012, the NorthConnect consortium began environmental studies and investigations of potential subsea cable laying routes for the 1,400 MW HVDC interconnector between Peterhead in Scotland and Sima/Samnanger in Norway, marking the start of detailed site and route assessment for the project.
NorthConnect was established as a joint venture company to develop, build, own and operate a 1.4 GW HVDC subsea interconnector between Scotland and Norway. The project company was specially set up and owned by five European utilities—SSE (via SSE Interconnector Limited), Vattenfall, Agder Energi, E-CO and Lyse—to promote the scheme linking Peterhead in eastern Scotland with Simadalen/Sima in western Norway.
An Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIAR) for the NorthConnect HVDC cable infrastructure, focusing on the HVDC cabling and associated infrastructure from the UK converter station building to the limits of the UK Exclusive Economic Zone, was produced to support consent for the interconnector between Scotland and Norway.
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