Upgrading the Anglo-Scottish Interconnector: the view from the North

The privatisation of the industry which led to the creation of Hydro-Electric and ScottishPower resulted in various Agreements and Contracts being put in place. The Scottish Interconnector Agreement defines Hydro-Electric´s share of the Interconnector capability, and sets out the steps to be followed by both parties in dealing with any proposed upgrade of the Interconnector. Hydro-Electric has contributed to the cost of the Interconnector upgrade to 1600 MW in return for a share in the increased capability. The final construction phase of the new 400 kV west coast Interconnector circuit between Strathaven and Harker in 1993 required outages lasting in total some 11 weeks. Agreement was reached between the National Grid, ScottishPower and Hydro-Electric for the application of a generation intertrip for the duration of the construction outage. The design of the intertrip scheme is summarised