World’s largest cable laying vessel – Prysmian Leonardo da Vinci – is now in UK waters to help deliver vital new energy link
The £2.4bn/€2.8bn NeuConnect project has reached another key milestone with the world’s largest cable laying vessel – the ‘Prysmian Leonardo da Vinci’ – now in UK waters to install 140km of underwater cabling, bringing the first direct energy link between the UK and Germany another step closer.
Led by global investors Meridiam, Allianz, Kansai Electric Power and TEPCO, NeuConnect will become one of the world’s largest interconnectors – between the Isle of Grain in Kent and Wilhelmshaven in northern Germany, 725km of land and subsea cables will form an ‘invisible energy highway’ to connect two of Europe’s largest energy markets for the first time. The new link will allow 1.4GW of electricity – enough to power up to 1.5 million homes – to flow in either direction, helping to boost energy security while also helping to integrate renewable energy sources in the UK and Germany.
NeuConnect’s latest cabling milestone comes as the project marks the 2nd anniversary since major construction started in July 2023. The works are being carried out by main contractor Prysmian, the global cable solutions provider who are responsible for the design, manufacturing, installation, testing and commissioning of NeuConnect’s cabling. Prysmian has already completed an initial phase of cabling in the UK in late 2024 and, following a pause over the winter period, NeuConnect’s huge cabling programme will now resume with a much bigger phase of works that will include:
The world’s largest cable-laying vessel now in UK waters
- Prysmian’s state-of-the-art ‘Prysmian Leonardo da Vinci’ vessel is now in UK waters, approximately 12 nautical miles / 22km from the Kent coast, where it has started to install the next phase of NeuConnect’s subsea cabling
- At 171m long and 34m wide, the ‘Prysmian Leonardo da Vinci’ is the largest and most advanced cable-laying vessel in the world
140km of cabling to be installed this summer
- Over the next three months, the ‘Prysmian Leonardo da Vinci’ vessel will lay 140km of subsea cabling in UK waters (the equivalent distance of London to Leicester) with cabling buried beneath the seabed for protection and to minimise any impacts on the marine environment. The cabling works will also utilise Prysmian’s proprietary submarine cable burial tools which are designed and stored in its global marine base in Middlesbrough, England
- NeuConnect will install 525 kV High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) cables, offering a proven, reliable technology to create a secure and efficient connection between the UK and Germany
- Towards the end of this year, Prysmian will carry out a further phase of cabling as NeuConnect’s huge cabling programme continues through UK, Dutch and German waters into 2026 and 2027
Onshore construction also makes good progress
- With NeuConnect’s offshore cabling works reaching another important milestone, there also continues to be good progress onshore where new Converter Stations are being built on the Isle of Grain in Kent and Wilhelmshaven in northern Germany
- In Germany, piling works for the German Converter Station were completed earlier this year, while in the UK, main contractor Siemens Energy are nearing completion on the huge concrete base of the UK Converter Station, with work to begin this summer on the above ground ‘super structure’
Chair of NeuConnect, Julia Prescot CBE, said: 'Every kilometre of cable we install brings the first UK-German energy link a step closer, so these works are another important milestone for NeuConnect and a huge 140km stride in our 725km cabling marathon. As we mark the 2nd anniversary of NeuConnect’s construction, the good progress we are making onshore and offshore is helping to keep this vital new energy link for Europe on track.'
The NeuConnect project is expected to be operational by 2028. For further information on NeuConnect, please visit neuconnect-interconnector.com.
Source: NeuConnect
