Transmission system operator TenneT has begun laying its NordLink subsea cable section in the German North Sea.
Over the coming weeks, TenneT will wind out 99 kilometres into the seabed between the cable landfall at the Büsum dike, Schleswig-Holstein, and southwest of the Island of Sylt through the tidal flat area in the Wadden Sea.
Next year, another 55 kilometres of subsea cable will be laid in the German offshore area up to the border of the Danish territorial waters. Here, the cable end will be connected to the 228-kilometre-long cable section to be laid in 2018 and 2019 in the Danish North Sea area by means of a subsea cable joint. The 134-kilometre-long subsea cable section in Norwegian territorial waters is already complete.
Construction of the 53-kilometre-long overhead line on Norwegian mainland is scheduled for completion in 2019. On German mainland, NordLink will be laid as an underground cable on a 54-kilometre route between Büsum dike and the Wilster converter station in the Steinburg district starting in 2019.
The 1,400MW NordLink interconnector is 623 kilometres long and will directly connect the energy markets of Germany and Norway for the first time and serve as an exchange between German wind energy and Norwegian hydropower.
The NordLink project is being implemented by the Norwegian TSO Statnett and DC Nordseekabel GmbH & Co. KG, each with 50% ownership. TenneT and KfW each have a 50% share in DC Nordseekabel. DC Nordseekabel is responsible for the construction and approvals on the German part of the project.