Groundbreaking at Norway-Germany Interconnection Project

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Groundbreaking has taken place at the first electricity interconnection project between Germany and Norway.

Politicians and project partners in the NordLink interconnector project, grid operators TenneT TSO BV (Arnhem, Netherlands), Statnett (Oslo) and Germany's state-owned development bank, KfW, held the ceremony at the site of the German converter station in Wilster.

The high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) NordLink cable has a capacity of 1,400 megawatts (MW) and will run from Wilster in Schleswig-Holstein, and Tonstad in Norway. It will run for 623 kilometers (km), of which 516 km will be along the seabed. It is designed to harness excess renewable energy and share it when demand is high. The project is expected to cost between 1.5 billion and 2 billion euro ($1.7-$2.7 billion). Industrial Info covered the signing of the NordLink deal in February last year. For additional information, see February 19, 2015, article--Norway and Germany Linking Electricity Grids.

"NordLink connects two perfectly complementary systems for the exchange of renewable energy: German wind and solar power, on the one side, and Norwegian hydropower, on the other," explained Lex Hartman, member of the TenneT executive board. "Projects like NordLink make an integrated European energy market possible. To ensure that energy is directed to where it is needed. Easily, safely, and eco-efficiently," Hartman stated.

Robert Habeck, deputy minister-president of Schleswig-Holstein and Minister of Energy, Agriculture, the Environment and Rural Areas, added: "NordLink is an important building block for the future of the energy transition. It enables the generation of what we used to call base load power. The 'green link' establishes a connection to the hydropower plant capacities in Norway and will be able to counteract congestions in the German transmission grid."

When wind and solar don't produce enough power in Germany and prices rise, cheaper renewable base-load energy can be imported from Norway's abundant hydropower reserves. Conversely, Norway can import cheaper wind and solar power-based electricity from Germany during dry and cold spells. NordLink will be commissioned in 2020.

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