General direction east-west | Construction started 2018 | |
Partners Energinet.dkNational Grid | ||
Viking Link is a planned 1,400 MW HVDC submarine power cable between Bicker Fen in Lincolnshire, the United Kingdom and Revsing in southern Jutland, Denmark.
Contents
The project is a cooperation between British National Grid and Danish Energinet.dk.
Project
The interconnector would be capable of transmitting up to 1,400 MW at 400 kV.
With a length of 740 kilometres (460 miles) of which 650 km (400 mi) would pass through Danish, German, Dutch and British waters it would cross and be longer than the world's currently longest submarine power cable, the 580 km (360 mi) long NorNed.
In November 2015 Viking Link was put on the EU "Projects of Common Interest" list, along with the COBRAcable between Jutland and the Netherlands, and the Krieger offshore wind turbine cable to Germany.
In January 2017 Viking Link announced a €1.3 billion tender for seven contracts that detail all aspects of constructing and later maintaining both the land and sea components of the link.
The cable is expected to be operational by the end of 2022, increasing the UK's electricity interconnection level (transmission capacity relative to production capacity) from 6%.
According to some experts including National Grid's head of strategy the UK's decision to leave the EU can negatively influence the effort to link the UK power grid with the continent and may put planned interconnectors such as Viking Link on hold. In reaction to the Brexit referendum Viking Link stated that the plans to build and operate the interconnector remain unchanged and that they consider the project unlikely to be influenced since it has a strong business case, while National Grid recognizes that leaving the internal energy market would jeopardize interconnector projects such as Viking Link.
Economy
The Viking Link will give the UK access to the west Denmark bidding area (DK1) of Nord Pool Spot. An analysis in 2016 showed a DKK 5.6 billion overall benefit for the society using Viking Link, and a DKK 20 billion benefit for heat pumps in district heating. Combining the two yields a benefit of DKK 22.8 billion. By 2022 prices in Denmark are projected to rise by 15 DKK/MWh, and fall in England. The investment is estimated at 13.4 billion DKK.