Hitachi ABB Power Grids energizes NordLink
The interconnection linking Germany and Norway’s power markets enables access to renewable energy.
Image source: Hitachi ABB Power Grids
Switzerland, Zurich: The interconnection linking Germany and Norway’s power markets enables access to renewable energy.
Hitachi ABB Power Grids today announced the energisation of the NordLink project, a 623 km long high-voltage direct current (HVDC) electricity interconnection that for the first-time links German and Norwegian power markets.
NordLink is the world’s first HVDC Light® bi-pole installation to perform at a record level of 525 kV and 1,400 MW, nearly doubling the power transmission capacity compared with earlier systems and improving overall reliability and availability in the grid. The increased integration of renewables from both countries, in combination with the usage of pioneering technology, supports the green energy transition.
“We are delighted to be contributing to this milestone project, which brings Europe another step closer towards its vision of an interconnected and carbon-neutral energy system,” said Niklas Persson, Managing Director of Hitachi ABB Power Grids’ Grid Integration business unit. “Together, with the NordLink owners, Statnett and TenneT, Hitachi ABB Power Grids is contributing to the development of an integrated European energy market, which is powered by renewable energy and underpinned by an electricity backbone that supports sustainable society.”
“Our new interconnector, NordLink, is now entering trial operations and is ready to exchange renewable power between our two countries. NordLink will help us to achieve our climate goals and create value on both the Norwegian and the German side of the link,” said Executive Vice President, Gunnar G. Løvås at Statnett.
Energising the NordLink project and through its HVDC technology is contributing to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 7: increasing access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. In the future, the link will be capable of delivering enough power to supply approximately 3.6 million homes in Germany.
Hitachi ABB Power Grids designed, engineered and supplied the two converter stations – located in Southern Norway and Northern Germany – at the heart of the NordLink project. The converter stations have been delivered to a consortium of transmission system operators, Statnett and TenneT, and the state-owned German development bank, KfW. This complex project involving multiple locations, countries and customers, was executed safely and on time. Trial operations start this month and completion is planned for early 2021.
Source: Hitachi ABB Power Grids