Western HVDC Link (commissioned 2017)
The UK's first major domestic HVDC link, rated around 2.2GW, connects Ayrshire in Scotland to North Wales via subsea cable in the Irish Sea. It proved the model EGL1 now repeats: generating wind power in Scotland and wheeling it to English demand centers.
Relieved congestion on the Scotland-England interconnector and cut renewable curtailment at peak wind times.
Set the technical and commercial template for Scotland-England HVDC, now extended by the five Eastern Green Link projects.
EGL1 is the same corridor at comparable scale, but uses second-generation voltage-source converter technology and 525kV cable, the highest voltage used in the UK.
