NorNed is 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 power cable
A submarine power cable is a transmission cable for carrying electric power below the surface of the water.[Feda
Feda is a village in Kvinesdal municipality in Agder county, Norway. The village is located on the north side of the Fedafjorden, about southwest of the village of Liknes and about east of the town of Flekkefjord. The village has a population ...]
in
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 ...
and the seaport of
Eemshaven
Eemshaven (; en, Ems Harbor) is a seaport in the province of Groningen in the north of the Netherlands.
In 1968, the Dutch government declared the Ems estuary (Eemsmond) to be an economic key region. One of the key developments for the region ...
in the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
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, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, which interconnects both countries'
electrical 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 ...
s. It was once the longest submarine power cable in the world. Budgeted at €550 million, and completed at a cost of €600m,
the NorNed cable is a
bipolar HVDC link with a voltage of ±450 kV and a capacity of 700 MW. NorNed is a joint project of the Norwegian
transmission system operator
File:Electricity grid simple- North America.svg, 380px, Simplified diagram of AC electricity grid from generation stations to consumers
rect 2 243 235 438 Power station
rect 276 317 412 556 Transformer
rect 412 121 781 400 Electric power transmis ...
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 Nordi ...
and its Dutch counterpart
TenneT
TenneT is a transmission system operator in the Netherlands and in a large part of Germany.
''TenneT B.V.'' is the national electricity transmission system operator of the Netherlands, headquartered in Arnhem. Controlled and owned by the Dutch g ...
. The cable system itself and the two converter stations were produced by
ABB
ABB Ltd. is a Swedish- Swiss multinational corporation headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland. The company was formed in 1988 when Sweden's Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget (ASEA) and Switzerland's Brown, Boveri & Cie merged to create ...
.
History
Installation of the first sections started in early 2006 and the final section was laid by the end of 2007. On the Dutch shore, TenneT has connected the cable to the 380 kV Dutch high‑voltage grid. In Feda, Statnett has done the same for the 300 kV Norwegian transmission grid. Commercial operation started on 5 May 2008 with a capacity auction. The first commercial power transfer took place on 6 May 2008.
After two months of operation, the cable generated revenues of approximately €50 million. In the business case drawn up for the NorNed cable, annual revenues were estimated at €64 million.
NorNed has been included in
European Market Coupling Company
European Market Coupling Company, EMCC or emcc, is a provider of congestion management services for cross-border electrical interconnectors. This is done by means of ''market coupling'', in particular ''tight volume coupling''.
EMCC is a joint ...
operations as of 12 January 2011.
The internal grid in Norway is sometimes not capable of handling enough power for NorNed and
Cross-Skagerrak
Skagerrak is the name of a 1,700 MW high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission facility between Tjele (Denmark) and Kristiansand (Norway). It is owned and operated by Statnett in Norway, and Energinet in Denmark. The lines connect the hydr ...
, and capacity for these cables is then artificially limited.
The cable had a fault in 2011, causing 7 weeks out of operation.
A fault was discovered in May 2022, causing a shutdown of operations. Operations are expected to resume in October 2022.
Technology
Although classed as a "bipolar" HVDC scheme, the NorNed scheme is unusual for a Line-Commutated (
thyristor
A thyristor () is a solid-state semiconductor device with four layers of alternating P- and N-type materials used for high-power applications. It acts exclusively as a bistable switch (or a latch), conducting when the gate receives a current ...
-based) HVDC scheme since there is just one 12-pulse converter at each end of the scheme, midpoint-grounded at Eemshaven. With voltage-source converter-based HVDC systems, this arrangement with the two high voltage cables at equal and opposite voltages but only a single converter at each end is referred to as a ''Symmetrical monopole''.
Consequently, with a DC voltage of ±450 kV, the converter for the NorNed project has a terminal to terminal DC voltage rating of 900 kV, making it (as of 2012) the highest voltage rating of any HVDC converter in the world. The connection has a loss of 4.2% (95.8% efficiency).
Sites
Trading mechanism
NorNed is the first power link between the Nordic electrical transmission system Nordel and the continent that is planned to be open to the power market. The main trading over the link is presumed to be one day ahead spot market trading based on the price difference between the markets. In spite of quite equal average spot market prices, the hour-by-hour differences are quite significant most of the time. The way the power exchanges will be compensated was to be agreed, and the direct net income from the trade is to be shared 50/50 between TenneT and Statnett.
See also
*Dutch cables:
BritNed
BritNed is a 1,000MW high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) submarine power cable between the Isle of Grain in Kent, the United Kingdom; and Maasvlakte in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
The BritNed interconnector would serve as a link for the foreseeabl ...
,
COBRAcable
*Norwegian cables:
Cross-Skagerrak
Skagerrak is the name of a 1,700 MW high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission facility between Tjele (Denmark) and Kristiansand (Norway). It is owned and operated by Statnett in Norway, and Energinet in Denmark. The lines connect the hydr ...
,
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 MÃ ...
,
North Sea Link
The North Sea Link is a 1,400MW high-voltage direct current submarine power cable between Norway and the United Kingdom.
At it is the longest subsea interconnector in the world. The cable became operational on 1 October 2021.
Route
The cable ...
*Proposed:
NorGer
NorGer was one of two planned electricity cables between Germany and Norway. The other proposed project was NordLink, which Statnett decided to proceed with in 2015, and NorGer was cancelled.
Description
NorGer interconnector will start in Ton ...
,
Scotland-Norway interconnector
The NorthConnect (also known as Scotland–Norway interconnector) is a proposed 1,400MW HVDC interconnector over the floor of the North Sea.
Current status
The future of the project is unclear. In March 2020, the Norwegian Government placed the ...
*Others:
Basslink
The Basslink () electricity interconnector is a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) cable linking the electricity grids of the states of Victoria and Tasmania in Australia, crossing Bass Strait, connecting the Loy Yang Power Station, Victoria on ...
- second longest submarine power cable.
*
Renewable energy in Norway
Norway is a heavy producer of renewable energy because of hydropower. Over 99% of the electricity production in mainland Norway is from 31 GW hydropower plants (86 TWh reservoir capacity, storing water from summer to winter). The average hydropo ...
*
Renewable energy in the Netherlands
Despite the historic usage of wind power to drain water and grind grain, the Netherlands today lags behind all other member states of the European Union in the production of energy from renewable sources. In 2019, the Netherlands produced just 8. ...
References
External links
{{GeoGroup
The NorNed Project (Statnett website)The NorNed Project (TenneT website)The NorNed Project (ABB website)Weekly exchange(
Nord Pool
Nord Pool AS is a pan-European power exchange. Nord Pool has a main office in Oslo and further offices in Stockholm, Helsinki, Tallinn, Berlin and London. The company is owned by the European exchange operator Euronext as well as TSO Holding, ...
data)
Electrical interconnectors to and from the Nordic grid
Electrical interconnectors to and from the Synchronous Grid of Continental Europe
Electric power infrastructure in Norway
Electric power infrastructure in the Netherlands
Energy infrastructure completed in 2008
HVDC transmission lines
Netherlands–Norway relations
Electrical interconnectors in the North Sea
2008 establishments in the Netherlands
2008 establishments in Norway