Britain and the Netherlands have agreed to build a power line that will deliver enough electricity to supply Manchester and Birmingham combined.
LionLink, to be built by National Grid and TenneT, will be the “world’s largest multi-use electricity power line” and be capable of supplying 1.8mln homes, said the statement from the Department of Energy.
Through the cable, both countries will also have access to offshore wind farms in the North Sea that are due to come on stream in the early 2030s, the statement added.
Energy Secretary Grant Shapps hailed it as a “historic deal”, adding it is only the second such cross-border electricity line in the world after Germany and Denmark’s interconnector.
At 1.8 GW, the capacity will be four times that of the current link between the UK and the Netherlands.
Today’s announcement came ahead of a European offshore wind farm summit, where Shapps will lead the UK delegation and at which he is expected to announce an offshore wind collaboration deal with Denmark.
Shapps said: “Today’s historic deal with the Netherlands connects our two countries together through this exciting feat of innovation and engineering – the largest of its kind in the world which will provide enough electricity for more homes than in Manchester and Birmingham combined.
“Together with the strong ties we have with our northern European neighbours united today at the North Sea Summit, we are bolstering our energy security and sending a strong signal to Putin’s Russia that the days of his dominance over global power markets are well and truly over.”
Rob Jetten, the Netherlands’ climate and energy minister, commented: “With the North Sea becoming the largest supplier of green electricity for the Netherlands and large parts of Europe, we are ready to expand the interconnection between the two countries.
“LionLink provides close to two gigawatts of electricity to both countries, enough to power two million households."