The Scottish Government, via its civil service directorate Marine Scotland, has granted a marine license to the project company North Connect for a 1,400 MW power interconnection proposal between Scotland (United Kingdom) and Norway. This is a decisive step ahead for the undersea power line, which is currently set to begin operations in 2023-2024. Upon completion, it will span across 665 km and connect a converter station at Stirling Hill in Boddam (UK) to an offshore cable across the North Sea that will end at Simadalen (Eidfjord, Norway).
The project is being developed by North Connect, a special purpose firm initially set up by five electricity companies (Agder Energi, E-CO, Lyse, SSE and Vattenfall) but SSE withdrew in 2013. The British energy regulator Ofgem approved the project in June 2016.
NorthConnect will be the first high voltage direct current (HVDC) route to connect Scotland's power grid to the Norwegian network and is set to maximise renewable power generation in Scotland (mostly wind) and Norway (hydropower) by transmitting electricity on both ways. Once built, it will be able to monitor and respond instantaneously to meet the demand and grid stability requirements of the two power markets.