Isle of Man to England Interconnector

Isle of Man to England Interconnector
Isle of Man to England Interconnector
	Map of Isle of Man to England Interconnector
Location
Country	United Kingdom & Isle of Man
Coordinates	53°50′57″N 03°01′46″W / 53.84917°N 3.02944°W; 54°08′52″N 4°28′51″W / 54.14778°N 4.48083°W
From	Bispham, Blackpool, England
Passes through	Irish Sea
To	Douglas Head, Isle of Man
Ownership information
Partners	National Grid plc
Construction information
Manufacturer of conductor/cable	BICC, Erith; Pirelli Cables, Southampton
Construction started	1999
Commissioned	2000
Technical information
Type	submarine cable
Type of current	AC
Total length	104 km (65 mi)
Power rating	40 MW
AC voltage	90 kV

The Isle of Man to England Interconnector is a submarine power cable connecting the transmission system of the Manx Utilities Authority to that of Great Britain. With an undersea section of approximately 104 km (65 miles),^[1] it is the second longest AC undersea cable in the world.^[2]^[a]

Route

It was laid in 1999 between Bispham, Blackpool, England, and Douglas Head on the Isle of Man, commencing commercial operations in November 2000. It is capable of continuous operation of 40 MW at 90 kV (although other sources say 65 MW at 132 kV AC^[3]^[4])

Structure

The cable was manufactured in two parts: one section at the former BICC works in Erith and the other at Pirelli Cables in Southampton. It ended the Isle of Man's dependence on local diesel-powered generation.^[2] Power supplies to the island were increased in 2003 by an 85 MW combined cycle gas turbine power station at Pulrose, in the capital, Douglas.^[5]

The electricity cable is bundled with a fibre-optic cable which is used for telecommunications. The cable is owned by e-llan Communications, which is part of Manx Utilities. The electricity cable is used for importing and exporting electricity between the Isle of Man and the GB National Grid.^[4]^[6]

The cable is mostly buried at around 2 m (7 ft) depth but is on the seabed surface at six locations with protective cable mattresses.^[3]

Capacity

On the 20th anniversary in 2020 of its commissioning a total of 1.5 TWh of power has been exported to the UK grid which contributed £47 million to the revenue of the Isle of Man.^[7]

The amount of electricity sold to the UK since 2014–15 and the revenue gained each year was as follows:^[8]

Year	2014–15	2015–16	2016–17	2017–18	2018–19	2019–20	2020–21
Electricity to the UK, GWh	93	87	105	95	131	192	168
Revenue from sales to UK	£1.8M	£3.2M	£4.6M	£3.2M	£3.4M	£4.3M	£3.8M

Notes

^ Longer undersea cables exist, but all operate on direct current.

References

^ Howarth, B.; Coates, M.; Renforth, L. (March 2006). "Fault location techniques for one of the World's longest AC interconnector cables". 8th IEE International Conference on AC and DC Power Transmission. pp. 14–18. ISBN 0-86341-613-6.
^ ^a ^b "The Longest AC Subsea Cable in the World". Major Assets. Manx Electricity Authority. Retrieved 22 October 2008.
^ ^a ^b "Isle of Man Interconnector Cable". AWJ Marine. n.d. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
^ ^a ^b "Subsea cable". Manx Utilities. n.d. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
^ Pickin, M (2004). "Power to Pulrose". Power Engineer. 18 (1). IEEE: 14–16. ISSN 1479-8344.
^ Eric Jeffs (May–June 2004). "ISLE OF MAN PLANT HAS NOVEL DESIGNS". Turbomachinery International. Archived from the original on 24 December 2004.
^ "20 years of subsea cables celebrated by partnering with Marine Nature Reserves". Retrieved 5 November 2022.
^ "Annual Reports & Financial Statements". Manx Utilities Authority. Retrieved 2 February 2022.