Belgian system operator Elia and Danish system operator Energinet are to continue collaborating on the implementation of the first undersea connection between two artificial energy islands.
Such a connection, being developed in the Triton Link project, will be able to exchange power between the two countries and at the same time transport electricity from offshore wind farms to the mainland.
A preliminary feasibility study for the project, which was carried out over the past few months, has demonstrated that the project is both socioeconomically and technically feasible.
Technologically speaking, it will be an innovative and challenging project, both because of the distance it will cover, in excess of 600 km, and the technology involved.
Societally, the Triton Link will also offer value because it will provide Belgium with direct access to a large volume of renewable energy that is needed to decarbonise energy-intensive industry and meet European climate targets.
The signing of a new cooperation agreement between the two system operators in Copenhagen, at the annual conference held by WindEurope, marked the completion of the preliminary feasibility study.
Moreover, a partnership agreement (MoA) was also signed by the Belgian and Danish Energy Ministers, Tinne Van der Straeten and Dan Jorgensen, respectively.
The project dovetails with the implementation of the European Green Deal, which aims to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050 by increasing the continent’s current offshore wind capacity from 25GW to 300GW.
Transmitting electricity generated offshore to onshore consumption centres requires a meshed subsea electricity grid to be built; hybrid interconnectors will be key components of this subsea grid.