Construction Offshore
Interconnector cables often require crossing the sea and can be laid in very deep waters and stretch for hundreds of miles along the seabed, a remarkable engineering feat! Construction will take place in stages.
Tarchon is proposed to connect to the UK national grid through the proposed East Anglia Connection Node (EACN) 400 kV substation. Underground cabling (referred to as HVAC cabling) is proposed to connect the Tarchon converter station to the EACN. Underground cabling from the converter station to a point where the onshore cabling connects to offshore cabling on the coastline (referred to as the landfall) will be required to transport the electricity. The cables will make landfall at a proposed location south of Harwich – the final location is still to be determined within the landfall zone. As all cabling will be underground, there will be no pylons or overhead lines.
Bringing the interconnector cable onshore uses the latest engineering innovation to be precise and minimally disruptive to the area.
The proposed converter station will be a collection of buildings within which electricity can be converted from High Voltage Alternating Current (HVAC) to High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) and vice versa. This would allow electricity imported from either country to be accepted into the local distribution grid networks.
To construct the cable corridor, Tarchon will predominantly use mechanical excavators, with a technique known as Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) used to cross sensitive features. This specialised engineering enables the project to work with physical constraints and sensitive features such as rivers, railways and roads.
Interconnector cables often require crossing the sea and can be laid in very deep waters and stretch for hundreds of miles along the seabed, a remarkable engineering feat! Construction will take place in stages.
Tarchon will endeavour to involve local suppliers throughout all procurement processes.
For more information, please email Tarchon with the subject header FAO Supply Chain.