About Nautilus

Nautilus could connect up to 1.4 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind to each country through subsea electricity cables which would travel between the two countries whilst connecting to offshore wind farm/s at sea. By combining offshore wind generation with interconnector capacity between the UK and Belgium, Nautilus would significantly reduce the amount of infrastructure and disruption required in both the marine and onshore environment.

With this change in technology, we would also be able to reduce the impact on the affected communities and environment, as well as support the UK to achieve its climate and energy targets. We are already working closely with other developers in the area to coordinate activities and minimiseimpact on local communities. We believe that through improved coordination, the UK government can achieve and support the co-existence of renewable energy with coastal communities.

We held a non-statutory consultation on Nautilus Interconnector between Tuesday 14 September and Tuesday 26 October 2021.

The non-statutory consultation has now closed, but you can still view all our consultation materials, below.

What are multi-purpose interconnectors? 

MPIs are part of National Grid’s wider vision for the next generation of interconnectors. An MPI will connect offshore wind farms to an offshore converter station, potentially linking clusters of windfarms into a single connection point, before transporting this electricity to the transmission systems of two European countries through a sub-sea electricity cable called an interconnector. This would then connect to an onshore converter station at each end of the connection to transform high voltage direct current (HVDC) into high voltage alternating current (HVAC) so that the energy can be fed into the transmission network of each country.

As an MPI, Nautilus will help to:  

• Support the UK to achieve its 40 GW of offshore wind by 2030 and net zero by 2050 climate targets
• Reduce impacts on coastal communities and the environment by avoiding the need for every project to have its own separate connection infrastructure
• Support the transition towards a cleaner energy system by providing 2.8 GW of flexible capacity between the GB and Belgian networks
• Increase security of supply by ensuring cleaner energy flows from where it is being generated to where it is needed most
• Promote more affordable energy bills in the UK by providing access to the lowest priced energy available between GB and Belgium.

Document library

Read downloadable PDF versions of all our consultation materials below.

The planning process

Nautilus Interconnector has been classified as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) in the UK. As part of the NSIP process, the project has a live page on the Planning Inspectorate's website.

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process

Extensive environmental surveys and studies will be undertaken for Nautilus Interconnector as part of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA process) and a range of statutory consultees and stakeholders will be consulted with. As part of this process, a Scoping Report, a Preliminary Environmental Information Report (PEIR) and an Environmental Statement (ES) will be produced.