The Kontek HVDC is a long,
monopolar 400 kV
high-voltage direct current
A high-voltage direct current (HVDC) electric power transmission system (also called a power superhighway or an electrical superhighway) uses direct current (DC) for electric power transmission, in contrast with the more common alternating curre ...
cable between
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
and the
Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
island
Zealand
Zealand ( da, Sjælland ) at 7,031 km2 is the largest and most populous island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 January 2020.
It is the 1 ...
. Its name comes from "
continent
A continent is any of several large landmasses. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions are commonly regarded as continents. Ordered from largest in area to smallest, these seven ...
" and the name of the former
Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
power transmission company "Elkraft", which operated the
power grid
An electrical grid is an interconnected network for electricity delivery from producers to consumers. Electrical grids vary in size and can cover whole countries or continents. It consists of:Kaplan, S. M. (2009). Smart Grid. Electrical Power ...
on the Danish islands
Lolland
Lolland (; formerly spelled ''Laaland'', literally "low land") is the fourth largest island of Denmark, with an area of . Located in the Baltic Sea, it is part of Region Sjælland (Region Zealand). As of 1 January 2022, it has 57,618 inhabitant ...
,
Falster
Falster () is an island in south-eastern Denmark with an area of and 43,398 inhabitants as of 1 January 2010. and Zealand and had the abbreviation "ek". As of today, the cable is operated by
Energinet.dk
Energinet is the Danish national transmission system operator for electricity and natural gas. It is an independent public enterprise owned by the Danish state under the Ministry of Climate and Energy. Energinet has some 1150 employees, a ...
in Denmark and
50Hertz Transmission GmbH in Germany.
Kontek is remarkable because, in contrast to similar facilities like
Baltic Cable
The Baltic Cable is a monopolar HVDC power line running beneath the Baltic Sea that interconnects the electric power grids of Germany and Sweden. Its maximum transmission power is 600 megawatts (MW).
The Baltic Cable uses a transmission voltag ...
and
Konti-Skan, all land sections of the onshore lines on Falster, Zealand and Germany are implemented as underground cable. This unusual measure, which raised the construction costs of Kontek significantly, was made for practical rather than technical reasons. Obtaining permission for building overhead lines can take a long time, and hence underground cables were used in order to ensure it was completed on schedule.
Description
The Kontek cable begins in the
static inverter plant
An HVDC converter station (or simply converter station) is a specialised type of substation which forms the terminal equipment for a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line.Arrillaga, Jos; High Voltage Direct Current Transmission, se ...
of
Bentwisch
Bentwisch is a municipality in the Rostock district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, to the east of Rostock. Since its merger with Klein Kussewitz in January 2018, the municipality has 3,174 inhabitants and covers 29.19 square kilometres. Due ...
in Germany. It runs to Markgrafenheide on the
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
, where a submarine cable section to the island of Falster begins. In this section, the Kontek crosses the
Baltic Cable
The Baltic Cable is a monopolar HVDC power line running beneath the Baltic Sea that interconnects the electric power grids of Germany and Sweden. Its maximum transmission power is 600 megawatts (MW).
The Baltic Cable uses a transmission voltag ...
at through the use of a ramp. The Kontek reaches Falster near
Gedser
Gedser is a town at the southern tip of the Danish island of Falster in the Guldborgsund Municipality in Sjælland region. It is the southernmost town in Denmark, and also the southernmost point of Scandinavia and the Nordic countries. The town ...
, and crosses the island via of underground cable. Subsequently, a submarine cable section then crosses the sea between Falster and Zealand. A land cable on Zealand follows, which ends at the static inverter station in
Bjæverskov
Bjæverskov is a town in Køge Municipality, with a population of 2,988 (1 January 2022)[megawatts
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Watt ...]
and was commissioned in 1995.
The high-voltage cable of the Kontek is implemented as
paper-isolated oil-filled cable with two copper conductors with a cross section of 800 mm
2 permanently joined in parallel. For better monitoring of the oil, the land sections of the Kontek cable are divided in sections of approx. , which are separated by oil-impermeable sockets from each other. In the proximity of these sockets - at some distance from the cable route - there are automatic stations for the monitoring of the oil pressure, the oil temperature and other operating parameters of the cable. For practical reasons, the long submarine cable section through the Baltic Sea between Germany and Denmark was implemented as a single oil-filled section without sockets. As electrode cables of the Kontek, on the German and on the Danish side, commercial plastic-isolated 17 kV-cables are used.
The static inverter station in Bjæverskov was attached to an existing substation for 380 kV/110 kV. For the construction of the
static inverter plant
An HVDC converter station (or simply converter station) is a specialised type of substation which forms the terminal equipment for a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line.Arrillaga, Jos; High Voltage Direct Current Transmission, se ...
in Bentwisch a new construction site was chosen even though only one kilometer north there is still the old 220 kV/110 kV-substation which was built in the
GDR. In 2002 the static inverter station in Bentwisch was extended to a 380 kV/110 kV-substation and connected by a 110 kV-line to the old 220 kV/110 kV-substation.
A supplemental 400 MW
AC connection between Germany and Zealand in 2018 and costing DKK 2.9 billion, is planned to use the
Kriegers Flak offshore wind farm
Offshore wind power or offshore wind energy is the generation of electricity through wind farms in bodies of water, usually at sea. There are higher wind speeds offshore than on land, so offshore farms generate more electricity per amount of c ...
, enabling the wind power to be transmitted to either country as well as passing power between the countries.
[Nordic Grid Development Plan 2014]
" page 59, Document no. 13/81818 - 5. ''Nordic TSOs'', August 2014. Accessed: January 2015.[.]
Sites
References
External links
Kontek HVDC Interconnection (ABB)Google Maps: Bentwisch ConverterGoogle Maps: Bjæverskov Converter
{{commons category
Electrical interconnectors to and from the Nordic grid
Electrical interconnectors to and from the Synchronous Grid of Continental Europe
Submarine power cables
HVDC transmission lines
Electric power infrastructure in Denmark
Electric power transmission systems in Germany
Connections across the Baltic Sea
Denmark–Germany relations
Energy infrastructure completed in 1995
1995 establishments in Denmark
1995 establishments in Germany