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Interconnectors

Gas interconnectors

Gas interconnectors connect gas transmission systems from other countries to the National Transmission System (NTS) in England, Scotland and Wales.

There are currently three gas interconnectors which connect to the NTS. These are:

  • IUK interconnector to Belgium
  • Balgzand to Bacton Line (BBL) to the Netherlands
  • Moffat to the Republic of Ireland interconnector 

We regulate the activities of the gas interconnector owners and operators through standard gas interconnector licence conditions to ensure that gas is transported competitively to the NTS and that secure energy supplies are maintained.

You can see relevant decisions and other Gas Interconnector Licence documents in the following dedicated sections:

Electricity interconnectors

A cap and floor mechanism regulates how much money a developer can earn once in operation, providing developers with a minimum revenue (floor) and a limit on the potential upside (cap) for a 25-year period. More information on the cap and floor regime for electricity interconnectors can be found in the Cap and Floor Regime Handbook. For further information, you can contact: cap.floor@ofgem.co.uk 

Great Britain’s electricity market currently has 10.3GW of electricity interconnector capacity:

  • 4GW to France (IFA, IFA2 and ElecLink)
  • 1GW to the Netherlands (BritNed)
  • 1GW to Belgium (Nemo Link)
  • 500MW to Northern Ireland (Moyle)
  • 1GW to the Republic of Ireland (East West and Greenlink)
  • 1.4GW to Norway (NSL)
  • 1.4GW to Denmark (Viking Link)

Under the current regulatory framework, there are two general routes for interconnector investment:

  1. A regulated route under our 'cap and floor' regime. This allows developers to identify, propose and build interconnectors, subject to Ofgem approval.
  2. As an alternative to the cap and floor model, developers can seek exemptions from regulatory requirements. Under this route developers would face the full upside and downside of the investment and would usually apply for an exemption from certain regulatory requirements to better enable the business case of their investment.

Interconnectors make money in the wholesale market from congestion revenues. Congestion revenues are dependent on the existence of price differences between markets at either end of the interconnector.

All interconnection capacity is allocated to the market via market-based methods, i.e. auctions, and the trading arrangements on electricity interconnectors are governed by Access Rules and Charging Methodologies as noted in each interconnector’s licence.

With the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation agreement in place, new trading arrangements are currently being developed to facilitate more efficient cross border trading for all relevant parties.

You can see relevant decisions and other Electricity Interconnector Licence documents in the following dedicated sections:

Existing and future electricity interconnector projects

Below is a list of existing and future electricity interconnectors with GB regulatory approval. This doesn’t include a pipeline of planned interconnectors that are under development but that we have not yet assessed.

As with other major infrastructure projects, future interconnectors face a range of challenges that can impact on timing of delivery. The estimated delivery dates and capacity figures shown below reflects our understanding of developers’ plans at the current time (2025). 

Project name Developers  Licensee Connecting country Capacity (MW) Route to market Delivery date / estimated delivery date Status
IFA National Grid Interconnector Holdings (NGIH) and RTE National Grid Interconnectors Limited France 2000 Merchant 1986 Operational
Moyle Mutual Energy Moyle Interconnector Limited Ireland 500 Merchant 2002 Operational
BritNed NGIH and TenneT BritNed Development Limited Netherlands 1000 Exemption, Second Package  2011 Operational
EWIC EirGrid EirGrid Interconnector Designated Activity Company Ireland 500 Merchant 2012 Operational
ElecLink Getlink ElecLink Limited France 1000 Exemption 2022 Operational
Nemo Link NGIH and Elia Nemo Link Limited  Belgium 1000 Cap and floor, pilot project  2019 Operational
IFA2 NGIH and RTE National Grid IFA 2 Limited France 1000 Cap and floor, Window 1  2021 Operational
NSL NGIH and Statnett National Grid North Sea Link Limited Norway 1400 Cap and floor, Window 1  2021 Operational
Viking Link NGIH and Energinet National Grid Viking Limited  Denmark 1400 Cap and floor, Window 1  2023 Operational
Greenlink Element Power & Partners Group Greenlink Interconnector Limited Ireland 500 Cap and floor, Window 1  2025 Operational
FAB Transmission Investment and RTE FAB Link Limited France 1250 Cap and floor, Window 1  2030/31 Under development
NeuConnect Meridiam, Allianz and Kansai Electric Power NeuConnect Britain Ltd Germany 1400 Cap and floor, Window 2 2028 Under development
GridLink iCON Infrastructure Partners III, L.P. GridLink Interconnector Limited France 1400 Cap and floor, Window 2 2030 Under development
MaresConnect   MaresConnect Limited   MaresConnect Limited   Ireland 750 Cap and floor, Window 3  2030 Under development
Tarchon Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, Volta Partners   Tarchon Energy Limited   Germany 1400 Cap and floor, Window 3  2030 Under development
LirIC   Transmission Investment TI LIRIC Limited     Ireland 700 Cap and floor, Window 3  2032 Under development

Non-Standard Interconnectors (NSIs) 

Project name Developers Licensee Connecting country Capacity (MW) Route to market Delivery date / estimated  delivery date Status
Lionlink NGIH and TenneT   National Grid Lion Link Limited  Netherlands  1800 Cap and floor, pilot project  By 2032 Under development
Nautilus NGIH and Elia  National Grid Nautilus Limited  Belgium  1400 Cap and floor, pilot project  By 2032 Under development

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