NorNed

Historie

NorNed is a 580km long high-voltage direct current submarine power cable between Feda in Norway and the seaport of Eemshaven in the Netherlands, which interconnects both countries' electrical grids. It was once the longest submarine power cable in the world. Budgeted at €550 million, and completed at a cost of €600m, the NorNed cable is a bipolar HVDC link with a voltage of ±450 kV and a capacity of 700 MW. NorNed is a joint project of the Norwegian transmission system operator Statnett and its Dutch counterpart TenneT. The cable system itself and the two converter stations were produced by ABB.HistoryInstallation of the first sections started in early 2006 and the final section was laid by the end of 2007. On the Dutch shore, TenneT has connected the cable to the 380 kV Dutch high‑voltage grid. In Feda, Statnett has done the same for the 300 kV Norwegian transmission grid. Commercial operation started on 5 May 2008 with a capacity auction. The first commercial power transfer took place on 6 May 2008.After two months of operation, the cable generated revenues of approximately €50 million. In the business case drawn up for the NorNed cable, annual revenues were estimated at €64 million.NorNed has been included in European Market Coupling Company operations as of 12 January 2011. The internal grid in Norway is sometimes not capable of handling enough power for NorNed and Cross-Skagerrak, and capacity for these cables is then artificially limited.