Green Lights for Grid Development: Denmark Approves Major Expansion of International Electricity Grid

Two major energy projects of international significance have been launched in Denmark in recent days. On the one hand, the Danish Ministry of Energy decided to build the Viking Link between Denmark and the UK. The two grid operators Energinet.dk (Denmark) and National Grid (UK) have been working on preparations for the route for several years and were delighted with the decision. The capacity of the new cable, which will be Denmark's largest electrical connection to a neighbouring country to date with a length of 630 km, amounts to 1,400 MW, corresponding to the energy produced by three to four offshore wind farms. In addition, a further 75 km cable will be laid on land until a converter station can be connected.

These steps will be accompanied by the modernisation of the Danish electricity connection towards Germany, which will also make it possible to build up extra reserves in the Jutland electricity grid. The reserves are necessary to ensure a balance in the transmission system in case of a defect in the Viking Link. To this end, a new 75 km overhead line will be laid towards the German border and an existing pipeline will be modernised.

On the German side, Dutch-German grid operator TenneT is also working on expanding the international 'electricity highway', so that in the case of strong wind power production, a rapid transport of energy between the European countries is feasible. Both lines are to be put into operation until 2022.

As Energinet emphasises, interconnectors are a crucial basis for the EU's internal energy market. As more and more energy is produced where the wind blows and the sun shines, the need to transport electricity over long distances is also increasing. "By upgrading and connecting power grids across Europe’s borders, weather-dependent energy from wind and sun can be made use of in a much more effective way," said Torben Glar Nielsen of Energinet.dk.