NKT has completed an upgrade to a high-voltage power link that saw the replacement of four existing power cables that were installed in 1973 with the company’s 400 kV XLPE HVAC power cables.

A press release said that NKT completed the upgrade of the high-voltage power link connecting Denmark and Sweden. The original power cables were the world’s first low-pressure, oil-filled power cables installed offshore at this voltage level.
Since 1915 the power grids of Sweden and Denmark have been connected by a power cable providing exchange of energy between the neighboring countries. For NKT, the project was executed to a tight time schedule, and the new power cables for the historical power link are now in full operation.

Interconnectors are essential to the power cable infrastructure needed to ensure an efficient integration of the increasing amount of renewable energy produced in Europe. We are happy to upgrade the cables across Öresund playing a key part in maintaining the high transmission security of both countries and to strengthen the interconnection of the European power grids, says Executive Vice President Claes Westerlind, head of the Swedish high-voltage NKT factory in Karlskrona.

The power link across Öresund is owned by the Swedish national grid operator Svenska Kraftnät that awarded NKT the project in a consortium with Boskalis. In a joint effort, the two companies successfully replaced the original oil-filled cables with four new 400 kV XLPE HVAC power cables in close collaboration with Svenska Kraftnät and Energinet in Denmark. The new cables were made at the company’s high-voltage power cable factory in Karlskrona, which is running on 100% green electricity.

Of note, the original power cables were produced by the cable division within ASEA, a unit now part of NKT. In collaboration with Boskalis, NKT removed the old power cables which were sent for recycling before the new power cables were installed at the same location and connected to substations at the shores on both sides.