The last element of the submarine cable belonging to the 1400MW Viking Link interconnector, between Denmark and the UK, has now been installed on the seabed in the North Sea.
The construction work on the 765km Viking Link, the world’s longest direct current submarine cable, between Denmark and England is nearing completion, which is scheduled for the end of 2023.
The project represents a Dkr13bn investment and constitutes an important part of Denmark’s efforts to ensure long-term security of supply of green energy.
Together with its English partner National Grid, Energinet has spent 10 years planning and building an electricity connection between the two countries.
The work of laying and connecting the cable in the North Sea has been carried out throughout the project by the Italian cable manufacturer Prysmian.
The last section of the submarine wire was installed 172km off the Danish coast in German and Dutch waters and took several days to complete.
It involved a cable laying process, where a section of the link is taken up from the seabed and connected to a new section – wire by wire – before the complete piece is reinstalled on the seabed by flushing it under the sand so it lies at a depth where it is safely protected.
Senior project manager for the cable project at Viking Link, Daniel Johan Brøndum, said: “The cable installation at sea is a highly specialized and technically difficult process to carry out, and there have therefore been many skills and many people involved in such a task.
“Both the concrete task of installing the last connecting section of the cable, but also in the overall project.
“Over a period of three years, we have installed and connected more than 615km of submarine cable – sometimes the waves have been high and we have been under time pressure from the beginning.
“I am therefore immensely proud of the work we have done as a team and that we have been all hands on deck – so to speak – over a long period of time.”
The cable is now fully established from Revsing ved Vejen, through the Jutland soil, across the seabed, and all the way to Bicker Fen in northern England.
The chief executive of electricity transmission at Energinet, Henrik Riis, said: “The completion of the cable laying at Viking Link is a fantastic moment for both the UK and Denmark.
“After years of planning and construction, we are fully connected – from one grid to another – and one step closer to sharing green energy with each other for the first time.
“When Viking Link is ready to go into operation at the turn of the year, the link will contribute to ensuring security of supply in both countries, as well as in the rest of Europe.”