North Sea Link

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Not to be confused with Scotland-Norway interconnector.
North Sea Link
Location
CountryNorway
United Kingdom
General directionnortheast–southwest
FromKvilldal, Norway
Passes throughNorth Sea
ToBlyth, England
Ownership information
PartnersStatnett
National Grid plc
Construction information
Manufacturer of conductor/cablePrysmian (offshore section)
Nexans (onshore section)
Cable layerC/S Giulio Verne
C/S Nexans Skagerrak
Manufacturer of substationsABB
Installer of substationsABB
ExpectedOctober 2021[1]
Technical information
Typesubmarine cable
Type of currentHVDC
Total length720 km (450 mi)
Power rating1,400 MW
DC voltage±515kV
No. of poles2 (bipole)
No. of circuits2

The North Sea Link is a 1,400 MW subsea high-voltage direct current electricity cable between Norway and the United Kingdom.[2] Once operational, it will be the longest subsea interconnector in the world.

Construction was completed in June 2021, and the interconnector is currently undergoing testing. It is expected to be operational in October 2021.[3][1]

Route[]

Map of cable route

The cable runs from Kvilldal, Suldal, in Norway, to Cambois near Blyth in England.[4] The converter station is located near to the cable landfall in East Sleekburn and is connected to the National Grid at the Blyth substation.

Technical description[]

The cable is 730 km (450 miles) long,[4] and has a capacity of 1,400 MW.[5] The estimated cost of the project was €2 billion, and it is expected to become operational in 2021.[5][6]

Project participants[]

It is a joint project of the transmission system operators Statnett and National Grid.

The offshore cable was supplied by Prysmian and manufactured at the Arco Felice factory in Naples, Italy. It was installed by the cable-laying vessel Giulio Verne.[4] Cable for the fjord, tunnel and lake sections, and the onshore connection in Norway, was supplied by Nexans and manufactured at Nexans' plant in Halden, Norway. It was laid by using the Capjet trenching system and the cable-laying vessel Skagerrak.[4] The HVDC converter stations were built and installed by the ABB Group.[4]

Project history[]

The project was first proposed in 2003 when Statnett and National Grid prepared a 1,200 MW interconnector between Suldal in Norway and Easington, County Durham, in the United Kingdom. This project was suspended.[7][8]

On 6 October 2009, Statnett and National Grid announced they were conducting a feasibility study of the cable. According to the pre-feasibility study the project will be economically and technologically feasible. It will be a commercial cable jointly owned by Statnett and National Grid NSN Link, a subsidiary of National Grid.[9]

In 2010, there was speculation that the interconnection may also connect the North Sea wind farms as well as offshore oil and gas platforms, becoming the backbone of the proposed North Sea Offshore Grid.[7][10]

In 2014, National Grid quotes various groups in favour of more interconnections.[11]

The route survey of the offshore section was conducted by MMT in 2012.[12][13]

In March 2015, Statnett and National Grid announced a decision to start the construction phase,[5][14][15] a month after Nemo link, a similar connection between the United Kingdom and Belgium, was announced.[16] Along with Viking Link from Denmark, they would increase the UK's electricity interconnection level (transmission capacity relative to production capacity) from the 6% it was in 2014.[17]

Construction of the UK on-shore cable between the landfall at Bucca headland and the converter station site at East Sleekburn was completed in February 2020, with the converter station under construction.[18] As of January 2021, the converter station in Suldal had been connected to the grid.[19]

On 8 June 2021, it was announced that construction had been completed, and the testing phase commenced.[3]

Economy[]

Once completed, the North Sea Link will give the UK access to the south Norway bidding area (NO2) of Nord Pool Spot,[20] with an annual transmission capacity of 12.3 TWh.[21] According to the analysis by the United Kingdom market regulator Ofgem, in the Base case scenario the cable would contribute around £490 million to the welfare of the United Kingdom and around £330 million to the welfare of Norway. According to the analysis, over the 25-year cap and floor regime (a regulation for how much money a developer can earn once the interconnector is in operation) the benefit of the United Kingdom consumers is expected to be around £3.5 billion under the Base case scenario. Once the cable is completed the average domestic consumer bill in the United Kingdom would be around £2 less per year.[22]

According to Auke Lont, CEO of Statnett, Norway may use the interconnector to import electricity at times of peak supply in the United Kingdom, which could temporarily reduce hydroelectricity output in Norway and shift Norwegian hydroelectricity production to peak demand times.[23]

In 2014, the Norwegian energy service provider Markedskraft analysed the impact of two interconnectors under construction from Norway, the North Sea Link and NorGer a submarine cable of identical capacity connecting Norway with Germany. The electricity will at any moment flow towards the country with the highest price and these price differentials generate income for the interconnector whether the electricity flows one way or the other. Markedskraft estimated that while the Norwegian import and export via NorGer will zero out in 2020, the annual net export to the UK via North Sea Link is projected to be about the 10 TWh, i.e. almost all of the interconnector's annual capacity. Markedskraft go on to estimate that the increased demand for Norwegian electricity via North Sea Link will increase the price of electricity in Norway by 25 NOK/MWh[21] (ca. 2.6 €/MWh). A 2016 study expects the two cables to increase price in South Norway by 2 øre/kWh, less than other factors.[24][25]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Adomaitis, Nerijus (2016-06-27). "Norway–England power link to go ahead despite Brexit – Statnett". Reuters. Retrieved 2016-08-02.
  2. ^ "UK and Norway complete world's longest subsea electricity cable". Financial Times. Retrieved 2021-06-15.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Thicknesse, Edward (2021-06-15). "Construction of North Sea Link cable completed ahead of October power-up". City A.M. London. Retrieved 2021-06-16.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Lee, Andrew (2015-07-14). "ABB, Prysmian and Nexans share UK-Norway link bounty". ReCharge. (subscription required). Retrieved 2015-07-14.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c National Grid. "The world's longest interconnector gets underway". Archived from the original on 2015-03-28. Retrieved 2015-03-26.
  6. ^ "Cable to the UK". Statnett. 2014-10-17. Archived from the original on 2014-10-25. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b Bradbury, John (2009-10-06). "UK Norway "supergrid" agreement". Offshore247.com. Offshore Media Group AS. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
  8. ^ "National Grid plans UK-Norway interconnector". Power Engineering International. PennWell Corporation. 2009-10-07. Archived from the original on January 31, 2013. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
  9. ^ "Will explore HVDC connection between Norway and Great Britain" (Press release). Statnett. 2009-10-06. Archived from the original on 2010-09-04. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
  10. ^ Gibbs, Walter (2010-08-17). "Norway hydro can aid Europe move to renewables-IEA". Fox Business. FOX News Network. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
  11. ^ Getting more connected, pp. 3–4. National Grid, 2014.
  12. ^ "MMT to Survey UK-Norway HVDC Cable Route". Offshore WIND. 2012-03-30. Retrieved 2014-11-20.
  13. ^ Pagnamenta, Robin (2009-10-07). "North Sea cable could bring Norway's energy to UK". The Sunday Times. Times Newspapers Ltd. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
  14. ^ "Norge og Storbritannia nær avgjørelse om verdens lengste sjøkabel" [Norway and Great Britain are close to the decision on the world's longest submarine cable]. Teknisk Ukeblad (in Norwegian). 2015-01-05. Retrieved 2015-07-14.
  15. ^ "UK, Norway roll with 1.4GW link". reNEWS. 2015-03-23. Archived from the original on 2015-07-15. Retrieved 2015-07-14.
  16. ^ "National Grid rolls with Nemo link". reNEWS. 2015-02-27. Archived from the original on 2015-07-15. Retrieved 2015-07-14.
  17. ^ COM/2015/082 final: "Achieving the 10% electricity interconnection target" Text PDF pp. 2–5. European Commission, 25 February 2015. Archive Mirror
  18. ^ "What's happening in your area?". North Sea Link. North Sea Link. p. Construction Update: February 2020. Retrieved 2020-03-08.
  19. ^ "NSL's first converter station connected to Norwegian Electricity system". Submarine Cable Consulting & Intelligence Services (4C Offshore).
  20. ^ "Southern Norway towards new HVDC-connections". nordpoolspot.com. Archived from the original on 2016-08-19. Retrieved 2016-08-02.
  21. ^ Jump up to: a b Lie, Øyvind (2014-08-20). "Norges kraftoverskudd forsvinner til England" [Norway's power surplus disappears to England]. Teknisk Ukeblad (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2016-08-05.
  22. ^ "Cap and floor regime: Initial Project Assessment for the NSN interconnector to Norway" (PDF). Ofgem. 17 December 2014. p. 4. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
  23. ^ Kavanagh, Michael (2015-03-26). "UK draws on Norwegian green power with €2bn cable". Financial Times. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
  24. ^ "Dette er årsakene til at strømmen blir dyrere". Teknisk Ukeblad. Retrieved 2016-12-27.
  25. ^ Bartnes Gudmund (2016-12-22). "Kraftmarkedsanalyse mot 2030" (PDF). Retrieved 2020-12-11.

External links[]

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