General Electric (NYSE:GE) shares traded higher after it announced that a team led by its energy business GE Vernova has won a £1 billion contract to build the United Kingdom’s first high-capacity east coast subsea link.
The GE Vernova-led consortium will supply and construct two high-voltage direct current (HVDC) converter stations for Eastern Green Link 1 (EGL1), a joint venture between National Grid Electricity Transmission and SP Transmission.
EGL1 will manage the construction of a 525kV, 2GW bipole voltage-sourced converter (VSC) and HVDC subsea transmission cable from Torness in East Lothian, Scotland to Hawthorn Pit in County Durham, England.
Per the contract, GE Vernova and partner MYTILINEOS will provide the engineering works and technology for the two VSC HVDC converter stations, which form the terminals for the HVDC cable and convert the direct current to alternating current enabling the transmission of renewable electricity into the onshore transmission network.
The design phase is set to kick off in January 2024 with construction to follow in 2025.
“Together with our consortium partner MYTILINEOS, we are honored to have been awarded the HVDC contract for EGL1, one of the UK’s largest ever transmission projects,” GE Vernova Grid Solutions CEO Philippe Piron said in a statement.
“This critical project to the UK’s decarbonization and energy security efforts adds to a growing backlog of projects that are utilizing GE Vernova’s advanced HVDC technology."
GE shares traded up 1.1% at US$121.56 shortly before noon on Tuesday.
Eastern Green Link 1 (EGL1), a joint venture between National Grid Electricity Transmission and SP Transmission, part of SP Energy Networks, will see the creation of a 525kV, 2GW HVDC subsea transmission cable from Torness in East Lothian, Scotland to Hawthorn Pit in County Durham, England, enabling the transmission of renewable green energy to power more than two million homes across the UK.