Major Outage

The Western HVDC Link experienced a further cable fault commencing on 18 June 2021. The outage, referenced in the Ofgem closure decision document (OFG1161, 30 November 2021, footnote 4) — "We are aware of multiple faults on the link since its commissioning, including most recently between 18 June and 27th July" — kept the 2,250 MW HVDC subsea link between Hunterston (Scotland) and Flintshire Bridge (Wales) out of service for approximately six weeks during peak Scottish wind output. Repair activity by contractor Prysmian and the NGET/SPT operating teams was completed on or around 27 July 2021. This event was the most recent fault referenced in the Ofgem decision document at the time of investigation closure and is the only outage event explicitly recorded in an Ofgem decision document for this asset.