Norway and Germany Linking Electricity Grids

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Norway and Germany are set to begin work on their first electricity connection project, following a final investment decision by grid operators TenneT TSO BV (Arnhem, Netherlands) and Statnett (Oslo), with backing by Germany's state-owned development bank, KfW.

The proposed NordLink project will be the first high-capacity power cable between Norway and Germany. The high-voltage direct current (HVDC) cable will run for 623 kilometers (km), of which 516km will be along the seabed, between Tonstad in Norway and Wilster in the Schleswig-Holstein region of Germany. It will have a capacity of 1,400-megawatts (MW) and is designed to harness excess renewable energy and share it when demand is high. The project is expected to cost €1.5 billion to €2 billion ($1.7 billion to $2.3 billion).

"This is, again, a major step towards a more integrated European energy market, and an important contribution to the German energy transition," said Mel Kroon, CEO of TenneT. "With this interconnector, we can exchange energy between two complimentary energy systems, with Germany's increasing production of wind power and solar power on one side, and Norway's production from hydropower on the other."

NordLink is designed to allow excess wind energy from German windfarms to be sent to Norway's pumped hydropower reservoirs to be stored. When German demand is high, the electricity can be transferred back to the German grid.

Markus Scheer, member of the Management Board of KfW IPEX-Bank, said: "The NordLink interconnector is one of the major projects in the European energy sector, and will have a large impact on the European energy system. The financing of this project, together with our partners, is a cornerstone for the turnaround in the German energy market and an important project for KfW."

The link forms part of Germany's energy transition, or Energiewende, toward the use of more renewable energy. About one-quarter of the country's power now comes from renewables, with the government aiming to increase that to 40%-45% of the total by 2025, rising to 60% by 2035. Last April, the country overhauled its generous renewable energy support system to control its spiraling electricity costs. For additional information, see April 14, 2014, article - German Energy Reform Approved.

Norway is also working on its first HVDC link with the U.K. North Sea Network (NSN) is a joint venture between grid operators Statnett and National Grid plc (NYSE:NGG) (London). The project will consist of two 714km HVDC marine cables linking southwest Norway to the Northumberland coast, in northeast England. They will have a capacity of up to 1,400 MW. For additional information, see December 8, 2014, article - Two Interconnector Projects Advance in UK.

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