The UK power transmission system operator (TSO) National Grid has selected Japan’s Sumitomo Electric Industries as the preferred bidder to supply and install the subsea cable for its 2 GW Sea Link HVDC transmission project in the United Kingdom. The Sea Link project involves a 2 GW HVDC connection that will run through the Thames Estuary and the southern North Sea, linking converter stations located in Kent and Suffolk. The route will be primarily subsea, enhancing the capacity of the UK transmission network and enabling greater flows of renewable and low-carbon electricity to regions where it is most needed.
The cables will be produced at Sumitomo’s new UK manufacturing facility, currently under construction at the Port of Nigg in Scotland. Once completed, this plant will mark the first domestic manufacturing of HVDC cables in the UK in nearly 20 years. This announcement follows the recent appointment of Siemens Energy to deliver the project's converter stations. Sea Link is seeking planning consent and if successful will enter its construction phase, expected to begin in 2027.