National Grid plc

06/22/2022 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/22/2022 07:06

National Grid Wins EEI’s International Edison Award for North Sea Link Project

National Grid received the 2022 International Edison Award from the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) for its North Sea Link (NSL) project last evening. The link allows the UK and Norway to share renewable energy across the longest subsea electricity interconnector in the world.

"National Grid is honored to receive the prestigious International Edison Award from EEI," said National Grid CEO John Pettigrew. "The NSL is critical to providing our customers with the affordable, reliable, and clean energy they want and deserve, and it is helping to shape the future of the electric power industry by establishing technologies that increase flexibility for the energy grid, which enables us to efficiently reduce carbon emissions."

National Grid and Statnett's €1.6-billion (approximately $1.7 billion USD) NSL started commercial operations on October 1, 2021, marking a major milestone in the UK's and Norway's journeys to net zero. By enabling the trade of renewable energy between the two countries for the first time, NSL will help the UK to avoid 23 million metric tons of carbon emissions by 2030.

Stretching 720 kilometers (km, approximately 447 miles) across the North Sea between Blyth in the UK and the village of Kvilldal, near Stavanger in southwestern Norway, at depths of up to 700 meters (approximately 2,300 feet), NSL provides clean electricity to power 1.4 million homes.

"Across the globe, EEI and our member companies are focused on getting the energy we provide as clean as we can as fast as we can, without compromising on the reliability or affordability that are essential to the customers and the communities we serve," said EEI President Tom Kuhn. "Because of the NSL, multiple countries are able to take the next step toward powering a net-zero economy. I applaud National Grid for its leadership and congratulate them for winning this prestigious award for this engineering marvel."

Presented annually and selected by a panel of former energy industry executives, the Edison Award is the electric power industry's highest honor in the US. The award was presented in Orlando, Fla., during EEI 2022, EEI's annual thought leadership forum.