Financier Edi Truell has gathered numerous investors who are ready to fund an undersea power cable from Iceland to the UK.
The Sunday Times reports that Edi has found numerous “international investors” prepared to fund the project, which will be under the umbrella of a company he formed, Atlantic Supergrid Corporation. According to the corporation’s mission statement:
“Our plans are to build a 1000km cable between Iceland and the United Kingdom which, once complete, will be the longest sub-sea interconnector in the world, bringing 1.2 GW of sustainable power to 2m British homes. … It has the potential to deliver reliable, clean, low-cost power at scale, and that makes economic sense to British energy consumers, British industry and the Treasury. Our proposal could bring as much energy to Britain as the country’s most modern nuclear power station, without the burden of decommissioning and at a fraction of the cost.”
As reported in 2012, UK energy minister Charles Hendry said he believes very strongly in the idea of a power cable between Iceland and the UK. In April 2011, Hendry told reporters that “We will be dependent on imported energy”, and that the cables “are an absolutely critical part of energy security and for low carbon energy.” In fact, Hendry signed a willingness agreement with Iceland on the idea.
However, the idea is not without its critics. Minister of Industry Ragnheiður Elín Árnadóttir told Bloomberg last year that “We have to realize the potential environmental impact such a project may have. It’s not just a question of plugging the cable into the next available socket.”
Buy subscriptions, t-shirts and more from our shop right here!
