It stretches 260km under the North Sea, contains 23,000 tonnes of copper and lead, and may represent the first step towards a renewable energy revolution based on a European electricity "supergrid". The £500m BritNed cable, which has just entered operation, is the first direct current electricity link from the UK to another country in 25 years.
The high voltage cable, a joint venture between the UK National Grid and the Dutch grid operator TenneT, has a capacity of 1,000MW, the equivalent of a nuclear power station. It runs from the Isle of Grain in Kent to Maasvlakte, near Rotterdam, in the Netherlands.
High voltage DC (HVDC) cables allow electricity to be transmitted over much greater distances than existing alternating current lines, which start losing power after 80km. A network of HVDC cables across Europe is seen as the key to "weather-proofing" the large scale use of renewable energy, some forms of which are intermittent and have to be balanced in real time with generation elsewhere.
"Our investment in this interconnector means that we are joining a much wider European electricity market," said Nick Winser, executive director of National Grid. "This ability we now have to move power across national borders means we can use the full potential of renewable energy from wind – making it easier to import when wind is not available and export when there is a surplus." In the short term, linking the UK and European grids boosts the UK's energy security and helps stabilise wholesale energy prices.
Chris Huhne, secretary of state for energy and climate change, said: "Renewables win as it means surplus wind power can be easily shared [and] consumers win as a single European market puts pressure on prices."
"This is a major step," said Louise Hutchins, head of UK energy campaigns at Greenpeace. "It sends a signal to renewable manufacturers that we're a step closer to unlocking the potential of one the world's main renewable power houses – the North Sea."
BritNed auctions the cable's transmission capacity on the open market and all 1,000MW was bought from the first hour of operation on 31 March. Since the start, electricity has flowed from the Netherlands to the UK most of the time. The project took about five years to complete and will be officially opened on 12 May.
The idea of a European supergrid gained momentum in December with the signing of an agreement by all 10 nations bordering the North Sea to, for example, co-ordinate the deployment of new HVDC cables. The North Sea offshore grid initiative, backed by the UK prime minister, David Cameron, aims to link renewable energy generation across the North Sea, including wind power from the UK, solar power in Germany and hydropower in Scandinavia, maximising the use of renewable energy.
Wilfried Breuer, head of power transmission solutions at Siemens, which manufactured and built the AC-DC conversion stations at each end of the BritNed powerline, said: "The supergrid will be built, but gradually. It's not one investment like a highway. It will develop over 10-15 years, leg by leg."
In the UK, the biggest driving force for new HVDC lines will be the 30GW of offshore windpower capacity planned for deployment before 2020. By comparison, the current total UK capacity from coal, gas, nuclear and other sources is 85GW. "HVDC lines are a commercially driven market. Excess wind power is an asset and you want to be able to sell that," said Breuer.
Another 10GW of HVDC lines are planned by 2020 including links from the UK to Norway, Belgium and France. The latter is the only nation with an existing HVDC link to the UK, a 2,000MW cable that has been in operation for 25 years. The HVDC line most likely to open next runs from north Wales to Dublin, Ireland, which is due to complete in 2012.
The most ambitious HVDC cable under consideration would give the UK access to the vast geothermal energy of Iceland, which is not intermittent. Last month energy minister Charles Hendry said discussions on the legal and regulatory issues posed by such a cable had taken place with the Icelandic government and would continue. However, the distance between Reykjavik and Glasgow is more than 1,300km: the longest existing subsea HVDC cable is 580km, linking Norway and the Netherlands.
Within the UK, National Grid is developing plans for two cables, dubbed "the bootstraps", which will connect Scotland and England on both the east and west coasts. The west coast cable is further ahead in planning and will run under the sea from Ayrshire to Connah's Quay, near Chester. Scotland has the best wind power resource in Europe, according to trade body RenewableUK.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk
The high voltage cable, a joint venture between the UK National Grid and the Dutch grid operator TenneT, has a capacity of 1,000MW, the equivalent of a nuclear power station. It runs from the Isle of Grain in Kent to Maasvlakte, near Rotterdam, in the Netherlands.
High voltage DC (HVDC) cables allow electricity to be transmitted over much greater distances than existing alternating current lines, which start losing power after 80km. A network of HVDC cables across Europe is seen as the key to "weather-proofing" the large scale use of renewable energy, some forms of which are intermittent and have to be balanced in real time with generation elsewhere.
"Our investment in this interconnector means that we are joining a much wider European electricity market," said Nick Winser, executive director of National Grid. "This ability we now have to move power across national borders means we can use the full potential of renewable energy from wind – making it easier to import when wind is not available and export when there is a surplus." In the short term, linking the UK and European grids boosts the UK's energy security and helps stabilise wholesale energy prices.
Chris Huhne, secretary of state for energy and climate change, said: "Renewables win as it means surplus wind power can be easily shared [and] consumers win as a single European market puts pressure on prices."
"This is a major step," said Louise Hutchins, head of UK energy campaigns at Greenpeace. "It sends a signal to renewable manufacturers that we're a step closer to unlocking the potential of one the world's main renewable power houses – the North Sea."
BritNed auctions the cable's transmission capacity on the open market and all 1,000MW was bought from the first hour of operation on 31 March. Since the start, electricity has flowed from the Netherlands to the UK most of the time. The project took about five years to complete and will be officially opened on 12 May.
The idea of a European supergrid gained momentum in December with the signing of an agreement by all 10 nations bordering the North Sea to, for example, co-ordinate the deployment of new HVDC cables. The North Sea offshore grid initiative, backed by the UK prime minister, David Cameron, aims to link renewable energy generation across the North Sea, including wind power from the UK, solar power in Germany and hydropower in Scandinavia, maximising the use of renewable energy.
Wilfried Breuer, head of power transmission solutions at Siemens, which manufactured and built the AC-DC conversion stations at each end of the BritNed powerline, said: "The supergrid will be built, but gradually. It's not one investment like a highway. It will develop over 10-15 years, leg by leg."
In the UK, the biggest driving force for new HVDC lines will be the 30GW of offshore windpower capacity planned for deployment before 2020. By comparison, the current total UK capacity from coal, gas, nuclear and other sources is 85GW. "HVDC lines are a commercially driven market. Excess wind power is an asset and you want to be able to sell that," said Breuer.
Another 10GW of HVDC lines are planned by 2020 including links from the UK to Norway, Belgium and France. The latter is the only nation with an existing HVDC link to the UK, a 2,000MW cable that has been in operation for 25 years. The HVDC line most likely to open next runs from north Wales to Dublin, Ireland, which is due to complete in 2012.
The most ambitious HVDC cable under consideration would give the UK access to the vast geothermal energy of Iceland, which is not intermittent. Last month energy minister Charles Hendry said discussions on the legal and regulatory issues posed by such a cable had taken place with the Icelandic government and would continue. However, the distance between Reykjavik and Glasgow is more than 1,300km: the longest existing subsea HVDC cable is 580km, linking Norway and the Netherlands.
Within the UK, National Grid is developing plans for two cables, dubbed "the bootstraps", which will connect Scotland and England on both the east and west coasts. The west coast cable is further ahead in planning and will run under the sea from Ayrshire to Connah's Quay, near Chester. Scotland has the best wind power resource in Europe, according to trade body RenewableUK.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk
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