Electricity Interconnectors
(asked on 25th March 2024) - View Source
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many gigawatt hours of electricity has been imported by individual interconnectors since 2019; and what proportion of total electricity output was generated by interconnectors in (i) 2020, (ii) 2021, (ii) 2022 and (iv) 2023.
UK electricity imports from 2019 to 2023 via each interconnector are presented in the following table, in gigawatt hours (GWh):
Country | Interconnector | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
France | IFA 1 | 11,875 | 10,412 | 10,138 | 1,116 | 7,028 |
| IFA 2 | x | x | 5,014 | 1,246 | 3,825 |
| ElectraLink | x | x | x | 374 | 4,649 |
Netherlands | BritNed | 6,049 | 4,674 | 4,341 | 3,610 | 4,265 |
Ireland | East West | 1,238 | 1,600 | 538 | 990 | 239 |
| NI to Ireland | 302 | 321 | 325 | 336 | 213 |
Belgium | Nemo | 5,091 | 5,384 | 6,995 | 3,230 | 3,986 |
Norway | North Sea Link | x | x | 1,393 | 4,547 | 8,945 |
Denmark | Viking | x | x | x | x | 64 |
Total |
| 24,556 | 22,391 | 28,743 | 15,451 | 33,212 |
The share of the UK’s gross electricity supply (generation plus imports, excluding exports) supplied via interconnectors each year was: (i) 2020 6.6%, (ii) 2021 8.5%, (iii) 2022 4.6%, (iv) 2023 10.4%. 2023 data is provisional. Final figures will be published in the Digest of UK Energy Statistics at the end of July 2024.
In February 2024, the UK imported 3,696 GWh of electricity.
In 2023, 9,499 GWh of electricity was exported from the UK via interconnectors. This compares to 20,793 GWh in 2022 when the UK was a net exporter of electricity for the first time in 40 years.
Source: National Grid and EirGrid data.