“No one ever did this before”
Nemo Link through the eyes of Li, lead engineer secondary systems
When Elia and National Grid joined forces to build a connection for electric cables between Belgium and the UK, Li (Elia) was lead engineer for secondary systems. A role that ticked all the right boxes.
I am so proud of this project. For myself, for Elia and for Belgium. This is so innovative. Not only because of the size and technology but also because of the new culture we created of working together with so many different stakeholders from so many different countries.
Nemo Link ticked all the boxes. I was born and raised in China, got my PhD in energy in Manchester, wrote my paper on National Grid and moved to Brussels where I joined Elia. So when I heard of this big international project in collaboration with National Grid, I jumped at the opportunity.
I was lead engineer for secondary systems. They are like the nervous system that controls your body. In this case the gigantic installations that convert AC to DC and back. Without the converters, your risk that all energy will be consumed in the channel.
It was the project of my life. From the design phase right up to the commissioning stage. Ensuring that designs meet specifications, that what is manufactured meets the designs and that during commissioning, everything is working as it should.
At first, Nemo Link was just a piece of land with nothing there. Now we have an installation that is feeding millions of people with electric current in the UK. And we got to play a big part in it. Together with so many other parties.
Winters are always a challenge in the energy landscape. And during commissioning we experienced a shortage of energy when parts of the nuclear plants were down in Belgium. But we managed to pull everything through. And when my secondary systems responded to an incident, I was proud. They did what they were supposed to do.
The team spirit was incredible. We all had this baby that was born, that started to walk, then run. We turned every challenge into a solution. No one ever did this before. We had no reference. But we managed to navigate it.
What’s next? Who knows … This project will inspire many other projects to come. Perhaps even bigger and even more challenging. And when they happen, we’ll be ready.
Do you also want to be part of major projects at Elia? Then check out our vacancies.
