NorGer was one of two planned electricity cables 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

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The other proposed project was

NordLink NordLink is a subsea 1,400 megawatt (MW) HVDC power cable between Norway and Germany, opened in May 2021. The over long cable operates at a voltage of 500 kV DC. The cable enables Deutsche Bahn to buy the full production from M� ...

, which Statnett decided to proceed with in 2015, and NorGer was cancelled.

Description

NorGer interconnector will start in

Tonstad Tonstad is the administrative centre of the municipality of Sirdal in Agder county, Norway. The village is located at the northern end of the lake Sirdalsvatnet in the Sirdalen valley. The village has a population (2015) of 874, giving the vill ...

in Norway. From Tonstad overhead powerline runs to the

Flekkefjord is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Lister. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Flekkefjord. The villages of Sira, Gyland, Rasvåg, Kirkehavn, and Åna-Sira are lo ...

area. From Flekkefjord a long

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 ...

submarine cable will run through the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

to Mooriem in

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

. It will be laid on the Norwegian, German and Danish

Continental Shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an island ...

. The precise cable route is decided from a thorough mapping of the sea-bed along the prospective cable route. The sea route is consulted by Offshore Marine Management. NorGer will have a transmission capacity of 1,400 MW and an operating voltage of 450–500 kV. The price per kWh could rise by 0.8 øre in Norway. The sea cable is planned as a bipolar system with earthing through the return cable. This way, the disadvantages of a ground-return electrode with earthing in the sea, such as production of chlorine compounds and metal corrosion, are avoided. Anticipated life span of the cable would be about 40 years. Since the power supply in both Germany and Norway is based on

alternating current Alternating current (AC) is an electric current which periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time in contrast to direct current (DC) which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in whic ...

, converter stations must be built in both countries.

Project company

The project is developed by NorGer KS, a company that is owned by the Norwegian transmission system operator

Statnett Statnett is a Norwegian state owned enterprise responsible for owning, operating and constructing the stem power grid in Norway. The company has its headquarters in Oslo, Norway. Statnett also owns 30% of the Nord Pool Spot along with other Nor ...

, energy utilities

Agder Energi Agder Energi is a Norwegian energy group involved in hydroelectric power generation, electricity distribution, electricity trading and services for customers in the business and consumer markets. The Group operates in Norway, Scandinavia and the ...

and Lyse Produksjon, and the Swiss company

Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft Laufenburg Axpo Holding AG, headquartered in Baden in Canton Aargau, and its subsidiaries constitute the energy company Axpo. Axpo Holding AG was established in 2001 and is 100-per cent publicly owned. The company originates from the former Nordostschwei ...

. NorGer is registered in Norway. Statnett owns 50% of the projects while all other partners own stake of 16.67% each.

Environment

NorGer will use the best available technology to limit the cable’s impact on the environment. Previous investigations show that underwater HVDC cables have no known impact on sea life.Andrulewics, E.D., D. Napierska, Z. Otremba, 2003: The environmental effects of the installation and functioning of the submarine SwePol link HVDC transmission line: a case study of the Polish Marine Area of the Baltic Sea. J. Sea Res. 49:337–345.

Climate gain

In periods of overproduction, German wind power can be transported to Norway while water in Norwegian reservoirs can be stored for later use. With limited access to pumped hydro power stations in Southern Germany it is difficult to use the increase in wind power in the North German coastal areas. The cable connection will also be important for Norway’s plans to use more wind power. Power supply from wind power can vary from hour to hour according to wind strength and access to reserve power is needed to even out the variations. Hydroelectric power, with its unique regulatory capacity is a cheap and reliable balancing power source for wind power.

References

External links