The cable connects Norway’s southern price zone NO2 with the British power market. Nord Pool already operates in both markets.
June 10, 2021
Norway will start testing the North Sea Link, its first power interconnector to Britain, as reported in a leading daily. The Nord Pool exchange has received an operating license to host day-ahead power trading auctions for the first electricity cable linking Norway and Britain from this autumn, Norway’s Energy Regulatory Authority (NVE-RME).
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Last month Norway opened its first direct power link to Germany, the 1,400-megawatt NordLink interconnector. Germany and Britain aim to benefit from Norway’s vast hydropower resources to help balance their intermittent wind power.
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Norway can import cheap surplus renewable energy to save water in its hydropower reservoirs. Almost all of its electricity comes from hydropower. The Nordic region is home to many mining companies looking to take advantage of the excess green power available in the region.
It is already connected to the Netherlands through the 700MW subsea interconnector NordNed, and to Denmark through the Skagerrak connection. Critics claim that the system of cables could lead to higher power prices in Norway.
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For the North Sea Link, British and Norwegian grid operators will initially test sending up to 700MW of electricity both ways, with transmissions increasing to the full capacity of up to 1,450MW in September, Statnett said. The 720-kilometer-long North Sea Link connects Kvildall in southern Norway with Blyth in northern England and is owned by Statnett and National Grid. The interconnector can supply enough power for about 1.4 million UK homes.
