Seabed survey has started in the Baltic Sea as part of the construction of Harmony Link, a new subsea power connection between Poland and Lithuania.
The project is being implemented by PSE and Litgrid, electricity transmission system operators in Poland and Lithuania.
Harmony Link is one of the largest investments in transmission infrastructure in this part of Europe.
A consortium led by the Polish company MEWO is responsible for examining the planned route of the power cable.
For the purpose of the survey, the consortium will use, among others a sonar and magnetometer. Specialists will also take samples of the seabed.
In addition, divers or ROVs will carry out some of the tests, if necessary.
The survey route is approximately 290 kilometres long and 300 metres wide.
The location of wrecks or explosives lying on the bottom will be marked on the maps. If found, exploration of the wider strip of the seabed will take place. This will allow to plan avoidance of dangerous objects.
Finally, the test report will be ready by the end of summer and will help develop a cabling strategy.
Second Link Between Poland And Lithuania
Harmony Link will be the second electricity interconnection between Poland and Lithuania. Since 2016, the LitPol Link overhead power line has been in operation, connecting the Elk substation in Poland and the Alytus substation in Lithuania.
The submarine cable should boost the region’s energy security by contributing to synchronization of the power systems of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia with the Continental Europe Synchronous Area.
The total cost of the Harmony Link project is approximately EUR 680 million, of which EUR 493 million will come from EU support under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).
Projects related to the synchronization of the Baltic states with the power system of continental Europe received a total of EUR 720 million in EU support in 2020, the largest number of all projects submitted for co-financing from CEF.
Once completed, Harmony Link will be a submarine interconnector of approximately 330 kilometres, of which approximately 290 kilometres offshore.
The interconnector will be based on High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) technology and will provide transmission capacity of 700 MW.