Italian cabling giant Prysmian, as the main contractor, has completed all subsea cabling in UK waters for NeuConnect, a high-voltage submarine cable that will create the first direct energy transmission link between the UK and Germany, with its cable-laying vessel (CLV) now moving to Dutch waters.
Following this latest phase, over 260 out of 700 kilometers of subsea cable have been laid in total, with finalization of cable installation in UK waters to continue over the coming weeks.
Prysmian completed an earlier phase of cabling works in UK waters in 2025 and, following the winter break, cabling works resumed earlier this year.
The company’s Leonardo da Vinci, said to be the world’s largest CLV, has now moved into Dutch waters, where it will continue to install a further 140 kilometers of subsea cabling in the coming months.
NeuConnect CEO Arnaud Grévoz said: “With NeuConnect’s huge 700km cabling programme now moving from the UK into Dutch waters, we continue to make good progress. Every kilometre of cabling laid by Prysmian is helping to bring this vital new UK-German energy link ever closer and we remain on track.”
Furthermore, onshore cabling works in northern Germany are also making progress, with horizontal directional drilling (HDD) to be completed this summer and 12 kilometers of onshore cabling to be installed from the nearshore area of the North Sea to the converter station buildings under construction in Wilhelmshaven.
Led by global investors Meridiam, Allianz, Kansai Electric Power and TEPCO, NeuConnect will create an “invisible energy highway” capable of transferring 1.4 GW of electricity, enough to power 1.5 million homes, in either direction, with converter stations on the Isle of Grain in Kent and Wilhelmshaven in northern Germany.
Construction work at the UK site on the Isle of Grain began in the summer of 2023 , with construction in Germany following in May 2024 . The interconnector is expected to be operational by 2028.