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'World’s longest power cable' to connect Denmark with UK

Ritzau/The Local
Ritzau/The Local - [email protected]
'World’s longest power cable' to connect Denmark with UK
The special ship 'Cable Enterprise' laying a 25 kilometer long cable for the 350 megawatt wind park 'Wikinger' near Sassnitz, Germany, 16th August 2016. File photo: Stefan Sauer/AP/Ritzau

Denmark’s minister for energy and climate has given the green light to a 750-kilometre-long cable that will connect Denmark with the United Kingdom.

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The cable, which will be the world’s longest direct current cable, will help provide Denmark with a highly secure supply and better potential for selling its wind-produced power, according to the Ministry of Energy, Utilities and Climate.

“There is a social and economic carrot dangling for Denmark here, because we have in Denmark long periods where there is a surplus of green energy,” Minister for Energy and Climate Lars Christian Lilleholt said.

Lilleholt cited this weekend’s storm Ingolf as an example of how Denmark can benefit from the new cable.

The storm over the weekend resulted in the production of more green energy than Denmark can use alone.

“That can be sold to the UK, where electricity prices are higher than in Denmark,” Lilleholt said.

The cable will run from Vejen in southern Jutland to Bicker Fen in Lincolnshire, around 170 kilometres north of London. At 1400 megawatts, its transmission capacity will be the equivalent to one third of Denmark’s total consumption.

Lars Aagaard, administrative director with energy supplier Dansk Energi, expressed his enthusiasm for the project.

“It’s good news. Denmark will earn money on the cable and will be able to export a lot of green power to the English. They can help at the times when we have too much green energy available,” Aagaard said.

“This is good news for the conversion to green energy. And it’s also quite wonderful that Denmark will earn a pretty penny on it,” he added.

In addition to the new cable, a high-voltage grid will be installed between the West Jutland town of Holstebro and the Denmark-Germany border, with the work divided between two projects.

The three projects – including the cable – will cost a total of 11 billion kroner (1.5 billion euros), making it the largest-ever Danish investment in electricity infrastructure.

The cable to the UK could result in slightly increased energy prices, according to Lilleholt.

“But [price increases] will be between eight and 40 kroner per year for the average household,” he said.

Construction is scheduled to begin in 2019, with the project expected to be completed by 2022.

The cost of building the cable will be shared between Denmark and the United Kingdom.

READ ALSO: Denmark, Germany, Netherlands want to create ‘artificial power island'

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