Denmark Nods to Interstate Offshore Wind Farm Connector

Denmark’s Ministry for Energy, Utilities and Climate has approved Energinet.dk’s application for a EUR 320 million investment in a new 400 MW interconnection between one Danish and two German offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea.

The interconnector will link the 600 MW Danish offshore wind farm Kriegers Flak via submarine cables which run from the German side to the two German offshore wind farms: the 48.3 MW Baltic 1 and the 288 MW Baltic 2.

The connection is a joint project between Energinet.dk and the German transmission system operator 50Hertz. It is the world’s first interconnection between two countries that also connects two countries’ offshore wind farms.

With the approval, the project can start entering contracts with suppliers. This Combined Grid Solution (CGS) connection must be ready by the end of 2018.

 ”The Minister’s approval is important and helps create the future, cross-border electricity market, where much more electricity must be traded back and forth across borders. On the one hand, Danish power stations and wind turbine owners can sell more electricity to German consumers and make a profit on it. On the other hand, Danish consumers can buy electricity in Germany, for example when the wind is not blowing and the wind turbines are not spinning. This makes the green transition less expensive and more effective,” said Torben Glar Nielsen, Executive Vice President, CTO, at Energinet.dk.

As the interconnection connects two different electricity areas, it is necessary to build a facility in Bentwisch which can synchronise electricity from the Eastern Danish and German systems, Energinet.dk says.

Energinet.dk had previously been given the ministry’s approval to invest in the landing facilities of the Kriegers Flak offshore wind farm. However, a permit from the Danish authorities is still needed, before it can be decided where to land the cable from the offshore wind farm and where to build the necessary onshore facilities.

The European Commission has appointed Kriegers Flak – CGS as an important infrastructure project – Project of Common Interest (PCI) – and the EU has declared to fund the project with up to EUR 150 million from the European Energy Programme for Recovery.