BLYTH, UK & KVILLDAL, NORWAY -- North Sea is the world's longest subsea cable, connecting the UK and Norway and allowing them to share clean energy between one another.

The joint venture with Norwegian system operator Statnett, is national Grid UK's latest interconnector to come into operation. Stretching 720 kilometres (447 miles) under the North Sea, at depths of up to 700 metres (2296 feet), NSL is capable of sharing up to 1400 megawatts of electricity. This is enough to power around 1.4 million UK homes.

An international team of experts has spent more than 4 million working hours over 6 years to deliver the project, finding innovative ways to get the new generation of cable through fjords and mountains and across the North Sea. ​

NSL is already the fifth interconnector for the UK with already established links to the energy systems of Belgium, France and the Netherlands. By 2024, National Grid plans to operate enough interconnector capacity to power around 8 million UK homes with green, sustainable energy.

Source: National Grid UK