Transmission system operators TenneT and National Grid Ventures (NGV) have signed a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) to advance LionLink, a hybrid interconnector linking the UK and the Netherlands via an offshore wind farm in the Dutch North Sea.
The agreement outlines how the partners will develop LionLink towards a final investment decision (FID), covering procurement, governance, and planning. It also aims to enhance transparency on project costs before construction.
LionLink is designed to integrate cross-border electricity interconnection with offshore wind by directly connecting the two countries through a grid link to the planned Nederwiek 3 offshore wind farm. This approach aims to maximize offshore wind use, offer additional system flexibility, and reduce the overall need for offshore infrastructure.
The LionLink project was launched in April 2023, when the Netherlands and the UK announced their plan to build the interconnector, marking the first such electricity link to connect offshore wind between the two countries.
Subsequently, National Grid Lion Link Limited applied for the electricity interconnector with the UK energy market regulator Ofgem, seeking a license to operate the interconnector in Great Britain. In the Netherlands, TenneT contracted GEOxyz in 2023 to conduct geophysical and geotechnical surveys for the export cable route for the Nederwiek 3 wind farm. In May 2024, Next Geosolutions began a cable route survey for the LionLink line in the UK.
In early 2023, Dutch Climate and Green Growth Minister Sophie Hermans included LionLink in the country’s Offshore Wind Energy Development Framework. In the UK, LionLink plans to apply for the Development Consent Order (DCO) with the Planning Inspectorate in 2026, with a decision expected in 2027.
The interconnector, slated for commissioning in the early 2030s, aims to have a capacity of up to 2 GW, enough to supply up to 2.5 million households, according to the TSOs.
As these companies progress with LionLink, their existing BritNed interconnector is celebrating 15 years of operation. Since 2011, the 1 GW subsea link has facilitated nearly 93 TWh of electricity trading between Great Britain and the Netherlands.
Over the past five years, BritNed has exchanged enough electricity annually to power about 1.4 million households. The 260-kilometer interconnector remains crucial to both countries’ energy systems, generating approximately EUR 1 billion in auction revenues on the Dutch side, TenneT noted in a press release on 1 April.
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