The contract has been awarded by Iberdrola, through its subsidiary Scottish Power Transmission and the National Grid.
The 260 mile high voltage direct current cable, which will be laid from Hunterston in Ayrshire to a landing point in North Wales, will transmit renewable power to its neighboring countries.
According to Iberdrola, the upgrade, which is subject to planning approvals, will increase transmission capacity by more than 2,000MW and allow grid access to 6GW of new renewable energy projects in Scotland.
Iberdrola said that it will be the first submarine interconnector ever using a DC voltage level of 600kV, which will increase the link’s capacity and lead to lower transmission losses.
The subsea link is scheduled to be operational by 2016.
