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The Viking Link, the longest land and subsea cable in the world, has now officially been launched by National Grid.
With it first being announced in 2018 and its installation commencing in 2020, the project will have enough capacity to power up to 2.5 million UK homes.
It is a 475-mile-long, 1.4GW-high voltage direct current (DC) electricity link between the British and Danish transmission systems connecting at Bicker Fen substation in Lincolnshire and Revsing substation in southern Jutland, Denmark.
The estimated £1.8bn project has involved the construction of converter sites and the installation of a land and subsea cable, which for the first time connects British and Danish energy grids.
According to National Grid, since the Viking Link commenced initial operations in December 2023 it has transported 1,733 gigawatt hours (GWh) of power between the two countries.
This amount of power is only set to increase, with the energy company claiming that in its first decade Viking Link will provide enough power for 2.5 million households.
National Grid further estimates that in the first 10 years, Viking Link will enable UK consumers to save £500m in their energy bills. Over 25 years, it estimates that £5.2bn benefits will be delivered to UK consumers.
John Pettigrew, group CEO of National Grid, said: “In an ever-changing global energy market, the value that connections like Viking Link can provide to national energy security cannot be understated.
“Over its lifespan, this record-breaking connection will deliver over £5bn in efficiencies for UK consumers, allow us to trade hundreds of gigawatts in surplus power and provide an indispensable tool in guaranteeing the continued reliability of our energy system.”
According to National Grid, by enabling Denmark and the UK to share wind power they are becoming hubs of clean energy in Europe, acting as cornerstone nations for the North Sea super grid of the future.
Starting with Viking Link, interconnectivity is set to increase between the UK and other European countries. For instance, in 2023 National Grid announced joint plans with TenneT for a new 1.8GW interconnector between the UK and the Netherlands called LionLink.
National Grid also announced it is also working with Elia, a Belgian transmission system operator, on the Nautilus interconnector, with the potential to link the UK with Belgium and offshore wind generation.
The energy company claims that interconnectors such as these will enable more effective use of renewable energy, provide access to sustainable electricity generation and improve security of electricity supplies. Indeed, it will help grids balance the peaks and troughs that are coming with the increasing amount of planned wind power installations.
Pettigrew continued: “Physical connections to other countries are central to the international collaboration that sits at the heart of the energy transition we are undergoing.
“Our existing fleet, Viking Link and our planned Nautilus and LionLink projects will act as the cornerstone for North Sea nations to make the most of up to 300GW of offshore wind generation, delivering low-cost renewable energy to consumers with the least impact on coastal communities.”
However, while this ramp-up in renewable energy will help the UK meet its clean energy targets, National Grid’s Electricity System Operator recently called for a £58bn revamp of the energy grid to increase its capacity.
