Rubicon Heritage Services has won a multi-million archaeological framework contract for SuedLink, an underground cable renewable energy electricity network project.

The Irish archaeological services firm will install a 700 kilometre underground cable which will link wind energy in northern Germany with solar power in south Germany.

With work on the project beginning this month, October 2023, the project will be executed over the next five years. Once completed the underground cable renewable energy electricity network will be the longest such power cable in the world.

SuedLink will be an underground High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) 525 kilovolt (kV) connection routing renewable energy between the wind-rich regions of northern Germany with Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg to secure a stable power supply across the network. The underground cable will transport four gigawatts of electrical power over 700 kilometres and will be able to power up to 10 million homes.

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As part of the INFRA Europe joint venture, the Enterprise Ireland-backed Rubicon Heritage Services has created a German subsidiary company Rubicon Archäologie Gmb which has been appointed as archaeological contractors to all six lots on the SuedLink project in Germany. Rubicon will work with the other Joint Venture (JV) partners to ensure that archaeological remains along the route of SuedLink will be recorded appropriately ahead of development in order to minimise any delays to the programme.

Colm Moloney, Director, Rubicon Heritage Services, said: "We are very excited to have been successful in this procurement process. Archaeology ahead of large infrastructure is what we do and infrastructure does not get bigger than this. We are really looking forward to working with our amazing German partners and building a robust and sustainable Joint Venture that will deliver archaeological works ahead of megaprojects for many years to come."

Enterprise Ireland’s Overseas Manager in Germany, Manus Rooney, said: "Rubicon Heritage Services is an Irish company that is going from strength to strength. The Enterprise Ireland team in Germany were delighted to support them on this project and are very proud to see them succeed in winning this contract allowing them to grow internationally. At Enterprise Ireland, we are committed to supporting Irish companies to compete and win in international markets, and we look forward to continuing to support the team at Rubicon Heritage Services during the execution phase."