Western Link

Iberdrola, through its subsidiary ScottishPower, and National Grid, the British grid operator, had built the undersea interconnection system between Scotland, England and Wales by laying a high-voltage cable: Western Link External link, opens in new window.. The cable has an 850 kilometre length — out of which 770 km are undersea — and it connects the west coast of Scotland with Quay Bay, on the north coast of Wales. This is achieved through a two-directional system: the flow of electricity moves towards the north or south, according to the supply needs and demand for electricity.

The project had required an investment of €1,200 million and has made possible to transmit renewable energy generated in Scotland to homes and businesses in Wales and England, while increasing the interconnection capacity by over 2,200 megawatts (MW), enough to supply the electrical demand of more than four million homes every year.

The entire project has gone through five phases:

• Construction of a converter station in Hunterston, North Ayrshire, to change from the current DC system to an AC system, so it can be used with the current electricity transmission system.
• Laying approximately 4 km of high-voltage DC cable to the point in which the undersea cable reaches land, in Ardneil Bay.
• Laying an undersea cable with a length of approximately 385 km between Ardneil Bay and Leasowe, in the Wirral Peninsula.
• Laying a high-voltage underground cable with a length of approximately 33 km, which will run through the Wirral Peninsula.
• Construction of a converter station in Deeside, Flintshire.

Western Link was established as a result of the new energy paradigm in the United Kingdom, in which the generation of renewable energies has increased to cater for the growing demand of the country.

Iberdrola, a world leader in smart grids

Smart grids are essential for our renewable energy to reach consumers safely and efficiently in any country in the world. At Iberdrola, we operate one of the most important distribution systems in the world and we continue to work on its modernisation, digitalisation and automation. 

For this reason, in our Strategic Plan, we are focusing on smart grids in addition to renewable energies. To sum up, the company plans to invest €21.5bn in grids in the United States, the United Kingdom, Brazil and Spain, which represents 60% of net investment. 

Green light for the electricity superhighway

Ofgem, the UK regulatory authority, has given the green light for the Eastern Green Link 1 project in November 2024. This news comes at a time when SP Energy Networks' Branxton substation has been given the go-ahead. 

This substation will connect both the Eastern Green Link 1 project and a proposed offshore wind farm in the area. Work at Branxton, East Lothian, will begin in 2025. 

Eastern Green Link 1 is part of a multi-million pound investment in the UK's transmission infrastructure, providing routes for new green electricity from offshore wind farms to travel across the UK to connect to homes and businesses. Without this investment, there will be no way to transport the significant amount of clean electricity that the UK hopes to build in the North Sea to electricity users. 

Contracts worth around £1.8 B have been awarded to carry out the project, including £750 M with Prysmian Group to supply the UK's first 525 kV HVDC power transmission cable. 
The contracts are expected to give a significant economic boost to the UK during construction, with major works and components to be supplied by UK-based industries.

SP Energy Networks and National Grid Electricity Transmission already own and operate the Western Link, the world's largest capacity and one of the longest submarine cables, connecting Hunterston in Scotland to Connah's Quay in Wales. Operational since 2017, the link created more than 450 jobs during planning and development and has transmitted more than 30,000 GWh of electricity during its first five years of operation, enough to power every home in Wales during that same period.