The last remaining cooling towers and chimney from the former Richborough Power Station in Kent, U.K., have been demolished to make way for a new energy park. National Grid plans to use part of the site for an electricity interconnector with Belgium.
The interconnector is a joint project between National Grid and Elia, the Belgian transmission system operator, and would be the first electricity link between the two countries. It is planned to run the 1,000-MW high-voltage direct-current undersea cable between Zeebrugge and Richborough, a distance of approximately 130 km (80 miles).
The link would allow power to flow in both directions and would be the third electricity interconnector connection between Kent and Europe. The BritNed interconnector between the U.K. and the Netherlands went into operation in 2011 and the IFA interconnector to France began in 1986.
The project aims to be in commercial operation by 2018.
For more information, visit www.nationalgrid.com.
