Q & A

• What is NorthConnect

  NorthConnect is a power connection between Scotland and Norway to enable the exchange of renewable wind and hydro power.

• Why do you want to build NorthConnect?

  We want to build NorthConnect to facilitate more renewable energy production and to ensure that surplus power from Scotland is able to be used, rather than switched off.

  In Norway there is a large and increasing power surplus. The greatest surplus is the power surplus in the region that the NorthConnect connection is planned to be laid in Hordaland. In this power region, twice as much power is produced as it is consumed. In Scotland, there is a growing supply of wind power. Storage of this power is slowly developing, but currently, when there is insufficient wind, the power market in Scotland needs the supply of other energy that can be quickly turned on and off. Hydropower has this ability. Hydropower can be stored - and it can be turned on and off quickly. When it is not windy on the Scottish side, NorthConnect can provide the supply of Norwegian hydropower. When it is very windy, Norway can buy cheaper wind power from Scotland and save hydropower for the price and demand increases. In this way, both Norway and Scotland are guaranteed stable, cheap and renewable power.

  NorthConnect will also contribute to a cleaner environment. NorthConnect will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by two million tonnes of CO2. This is equivalent to emissions from about one million passenger cars.

  In addition, NorthConnect will help ensure our lights stay on - in the event of a 'black start' situation, NorthConnect can instantly react to bring power from Norway.

• Who benefits from NorthConnect?

  You and I as energy consumers, and the climate. NorthConnect will help keep our power prices stable and lower than they would be without the introduction of this great asset.

  The climate will also benefit from the construction of NorthConnect. The climate gain is great. The power generated on both sides of the North Sea will contribute to cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

• Who owns NorthConnect?

  NorthConnect is currently a joint venure between four publicly owned Scandinavian companies: Lyse, Agder Energi, Hafslund E-Co and Vattenfall. The four power companies are owned by 47 municipalities in Southern Rogaland and in Agder, and by the municipality of Oslo. In addition, the Norwegian and Swedish States have ownership interests through Agder Energi (indirectly via Statkraft) and Vattenfall, respectively.
  
  In passing the 3^rd Energy Package into law last year, the Norwegian Parliament also determined that Statnett should have a controlling interest in the operation of the Norwegian half of the interconnector. Discussions are ongoing as to how this may take place.

• Why choose Peterhead to land the NorthConnect cables?

  We've done thorough reviews to find the best connection point and looked at lots of landing places along the North Sea coast, including Blyth in Northumberland and Cockenzie in East Lothian. Long Haven Bay at Peterhead was the optimum point because it had space to house the converter station, already has a large power plant with suitable supporting infrastructure and, at 665km, Peterhead was also the closest point to the Norwegian landing point at Simadalen. Connecting NorthConnect here means the load in the transmission network is reduced and large network investments can be avoided and transmission losses reduced.