NKT has won a contract worth approximately €235 million to deliver and install a high-voltage DC (direct current) interconnector for SSEN Transmission’s Shetland HVDC Link project.

A press release said that the turnkey order calls for some 2 x 260 km of 320 kV high-voltage DC on- and offshore power cables. The power cables will be manufactured in Karlskrona, Sweden, with expected production to start in 2021, with commissioning in 2024, with installation done by the cable-laying vessel NKT Victoria.

“I am very pleased that we are selected as partner for the Shetland HVDC Link, which will provide a sustainable grid connection to Shetland and renewable energy supply from the island,” said NKT President and CEO Alexander Kara. “With this opportunity we continue our good relationship with SSEN Transmission, with whom we also successfully completed the Caithness-Moray Link, connecting Eastern and Northern Scotland.”

The Shetland HVDC Link will be the first transmission connection between the Scottish mainland and the island of Shetland, located off the northeast coast of Scotland. The link will facilitate the connection of renewable energy generation to the main Great Britain electricity system.

NKT notes that it is part of the green solution as it is providing power cables in a plant running on 100% green electricity. It added that the NKT Victoria is the industry’s most sustainable cable-laying vessel, running on power from the quay-side when in harbor.