Consent refused · HVDC · subsea
AQUIND Interconnector
A proposed 2 GW cross-Channel link through Portsmouth, stalled by planning refusals on both sides and a dispute over its backers.
Route drawn between the landing points; outlines: Natural Earth.
- Route
- Great Britain to France
- From
- Lovedean, Hampshire
- To
- Barnabos, Normandy
- Length
- 242 km
- Of which subsea
- 187 km
- Capacity
- 2,000 MW
- Voltage
- 320 kV
- Type
- HVDC · subsea and land cable
- Status
- Consent refused (checked September 2026)
- Operators
- AQUIND Ltd
Eastney, on Portsea Island in Portsmouth, was to be the English landfall for AQUIND, and Pourville in Seine-Maritime the French one. From there the cable would have run 25 km inland to the Lovedean substation in Hampshire and 30 km to Barnabos in Normandy, with 187 km under the Channel. At 2,000 MW and 320 kV it would have matched the capacity of the 1986 IFA link.
It has not been built, and no consent is in force. On 20 January 2022 the business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng refused development consent, saying he was not satisfied that more appropriate alternatives to the proposed route had been properly considered. The High Court quashed that refusal on judicial review in January 2023, so the application went back to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero for a fresh decision. As of the latest reports, no date for that decision has been announced.
The regulator has also said no. In November 2024 Ofgem rejected AQUIND’s application for a cap and floor regime, citing concerns about the project’s negative effects. French regional authorities had rejected the project in January 2021, and in October 2025 France refused the maritime concession the cable needs; AQUIND is appealing, as eeNews Europe reported.
Local and political opposition has been unusually loud. Portsmouth City Council voted unanimously against the scheme in December 2025, and the Ministry of Defence raised concerns about interference with naval operations in the Channel. The project’s backers, Alexander Temerko and Viktor Fedotov, drew scrutiny of their own: the AQUIND article notes a Guardian report that three Conservative ministers had to recuse themselves from the decision because of links to the company.
What is decided is that nothing can be built on the current consents. What is not decided is the UK redetermination and the French appeal. The converter technology was never fixed either. After the 2022 refusal, Temerko called the MP Penny Mordaunt “an absolutely uncontrollable woman” and a “threat to national security”.
Against the other links
- 29th longest of the 54 links with a published length; the longest is Tyrrhenian Link at 970 km.
- 3rd largest by capacity of 60; SuedLink leads with 4,000 MW.
- Other links from the same countries: Bay of Biscay Interconnection, BritNed, Caithness–Moray HVDC Link, Celtic Interconnector, East–West Interconnector, Eastern Green Link 1, Eastern Green Link 2, Greenlink and 14 more.
AQUIND Interconnector in brief
How long is AQUIND Interconnector?
242 km, of which 187 km under the sea, which makes it the 29th longest of the 54 links in this directory with a published length.
How much power can AQUIND Interconnector carry?
2,000 MW at 320 kV, 3rd of 60 by capacity here.
When will AQUIND Interconnector be finished?
Consent was refused, so no date is set.
Which countries would AQUIND Interconnector connect?
Great Britain and France: Lovedean, Hampshire to Barnabos, Normandy.
Who is behind AQUIND Interconnector?
AQUIND Ltd.