Isle of Man to England Interconnector
Subsea electricity cable between British mainland and Isle of Man
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It was laid in 1999 between Bispham, Blackpool, England, and Douglas Head on the Isle of Man, commencing commercial operations in November 2000. It is capable of continuous operation of 40 MW at 90 kV (although other sources say 65 MW at 132 kV AC)
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Structure
The cable was manufactured in two parts: one section at the former BICC works in Erith and the other at Pirelli Cables in Southampton. It ended the Isle of Man's dependence on local diesel-powered generation. Power supplies to the island were increased in 2003 by an 85 MW combined cycle gas turbine power station at Pulrose, in the capital, Douglas.
The electricity cable is bundled with a fibre-optic cable which is used for telecommunications. The cable is owned by e-llan Communications, which is part of Manx Utilities. The electricity cable is used for importing and exporting electricity between the Isle of Man and the GB National Grid.
The cable is mostly buried at around 2 m (7 ft) depth but is on the seabed surface at six locations with protective cable mattresses.
Capacity
On the 20th anniversary in 2020 of its commissioning a total of 1.5 TWh of power has been exported to the UK grid which contributed £47 million to the revenue of the Isle of Man.
The amount of electricity sold to the UK since 2014–15 and the revenue gained each year was as follows: