World’s longest interconnector begins commercial operation

The world’s longest land and subsea interconnector has commenced commercial operations, joining the power grids of the UK and Denmark for the first time.

The 1.4GW Viking Link runs for 475 miles from the Bicker Fen substation in Lincolnshire to the Revsing substation in southern Jutland.

The £1.7 billion project is a joint venture between National Grid Ventures and the Danish energy system operator Energinet. The interconnector will initially operate at a reduced capacity of 800MW but will be brought up to its full capacity over the coming year.

National Grid said the power line is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 600,000 tonnes over its first full year of operation and save UK consumers £500 million over the next decade.

Katie Jackson, president of National Grid Ventures, said: “This record-breaking new link is a fantastic example of engineering and collaboration with our partner, Energinet. As we deploy more wind power to meet our climate and energy security targets, connections to our neighbouring countries will play a vital role increasing security of supply and reducing prices for consumers.

“Stretching further across land and sea than any of our existing links, it connects the UK to clean, green Danish energy, improving security of supply and bringing huge carbon and cost savings for UK consumers.”

Construction work on the project began in 2019 and the final length of cable was laid and joined in July.

The interconnector will receive revenue stabilisation under Ofgem’s cap and floor regime, which limits gains and losses. When the project was originally granted support in 2015, the link was slated to begin operation in January 2021.

In April last year, Ofgem rejected a request by National Grid to push back the start date for support to January of this year.

The regulator said National Grid could have done more to address the cable supply constraints, which the company blamed for two years of the three-year delay. Ofgem said this market congestion was partially caused by foreseeable demand from one of National Grid’s own projects – the North Sea Link with Norway – and so only granted a two-year deferral, backdating the start of support to January 2023.

Viking Link is National Grid’s sixth interconnector to be completed. The company is planning to build two further interconnectors between the UK and continental Europe – the 1.8GW Lion Link to the Netherlands and the 1.4GW Nautilus link to Belgium.

Both are envisioned as multi-purpose interconnectors, linking to offshore wind farms along their route, and were selected as pilot projects for Ofgem’s multi-purpose interconnector scheme in December 2022.