A record-breaking land and undersea cable that links British and Danish energy grids for the first time has been officially launched by the UK’s National Grid.
Viking Link is a £1.8bn project that will be able to provide power for the equivalent of 2.5 million UK homes.
It uses the longest land and subsea energy cable in the world, with 475 miles of high-capacity cable connecting the two countries.
Viking Link can carry 1,400 MW of high-voltage direct current and runs from the Bicker Fen converter station in Lincolnshire to a corresponding station in southern Jutland, Denmark.
Initial operations were started in December last year and the cable has already transferred 1,733 gigawatt hours (GWh) of power between the two countries.
The National Grid said that the connection will play a central role in a “North Sea super grid” that is currently underway.
An interconnector such as Viking Link can provide a number of benefits to both countries.
Allowing the countries to trade power can diversify the electricity supply of each, improving energy security in the case of unforeseen events such as natural disasters and geopolitical turbulence.
It can also empower the nations as they trade with wider energy markets, which will hopefully contribute to downward pressure on wholesale electricity prices.
Power link can improve renewable energy in both countries
It can also help both countries to make the most of existing and future renewable energy sources.
Some renewable sources – particularly wind power, which is commonly used in both the UK and Denmark – can be both intermittent and unpredictable.
Trading power when there is a surplus at one end and more demand at the other can be an effective way to manage fluctuations in energy peaks and troughs.
While Viking Link is the UK’s first interconnector with Denmark, it is the UK’s ninth overall, with existing cables already linking the country with France, Belgium, Norway and the Netherlands.
The National Grid says that by 2030, 90% of the energy imported by these connections will be from zero carbon energy sources.
The new Viking Link interconnector is predicted to save 600,000 tonnes of carbon emissions in its first full year of operation alone – the equivalent of taking 280,000 cars off UK roads.
In its first decade, the National Grid says that it will result in more than £500m in savings for UK consumers, and will provide enough power for 2.5 million households.
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