ABB has won orders worth around $900 million from a consortium comprising Statnett, TenneT and promotional bank KfW to supply on-shore high-voltage direct current (HVDC) converter stations and the cable system in the German sector that will facilitate the first ever interconnection between the Norwegian and German power grids.
The link will be 623 km long, making it the longest HVDC connection in Europe. It is scheduled to go into commercial operation in 2020. The contract also includes a five-year service agreement.
Nordlink
NordLink will be key in connecting Norway with Germany and has been designated as one of the European Commission’s projects of common interest to help create an integrated European Union energy market. It will increase energy security in both countries and support the integration of renewable energy into the countries’ grids by allowing surplus wind and solar power produced in Germany to be transmitted to Norway, and hydroelectric power to be transmitted in the opposite direction. The link will transmit power at a record capacity of 1,400 MW, which is enough to supply 3.6 million German households.
154 Km Subsea Cable
ABB will design, engineer, supply and commission two 525 kV, 1400 MW converter stations, using its Voltage Sourced Converter (VSC) technology, called HVDC Light. One station will be situated near Tonstad in southern Norway and the other near Wilster in northern Germany.
Picture: Laying an HVDC cable at sea.
