Norway and the United Kingdom complete the installation of the longest submarine electric cable on the planet | Special

Exchange of British wind energy with Norwegian hydropowerThe United Kingdom and Norway have completed laying the world’s longest submarine power cable, Statnett, the northern country’s power grid operator, announced on Tuesday.

The length of the project is 720 kilometers, of which 716 kilometers are under water, and the project had Estimated cost between 1,500 and 2 billion euros.

Now it North Sea Link It connects Suldal, located in the southwest of Scandinavia, with Blythe (near Newcastle), in England.

The line passes through the bottom of the North Sea, This enhances the security of the electricity supply in both countries.

“When the winds are blowing hard in England and the wind energy production is high, in Norway we will be able to buy cheap electricity from the British and in the meantime leave the water in our tanks” at hydroelectric dams, the manager said. From the project by Statnett, Thor Anders Nummedal.

“When there is little wind and demand for electricity is high in England, they will be able to buy hydropower from us,” he said in a statement.

The capacity of the new submarine cable is about 1,400 MW.

Two sections of the macro cable, installed simultaneously in the British and Norwegian parts, were connected Monday night.

Nordlink

This is not the first time so far this year that this type of project has paid off in the old continent.

In May, with the participation of the same company, Germany and Norway united under the sea with an electric cable.

At a distance of 623 kilometers, of which 516 kilometers are below sea level, Nordlink represents “really important progress (…) towards sustainable energy supplies”, according to German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The project enables the exchange of wind or solar energy produced in Germany for hydroelectric energy produced in Norway.