The 260-kilometre BritNed link, due for completion in 2010, will allow energy trading between the UK and the Netherlands and increase the reliability of electricity supplies to both countries.
It is ABB’s biggest ever high-voltage cable order. The £175 million contract was awarded by National Grid in the UK and TenneT in the Netherlands.
The underwater and underground cables will carry the high-voltage direct current (HVDC) for the system which will have a total capacity of 1,000 megawatts (MW).
HVDC technology, pioneered by ABB in the 1950s, is used to transport electrical power over long distances with low losses, using underground or submarine cables. Power flow can be exactly controlled and the technology also prevents disturbances from spreading, making a significant contribution to the stability of the European grid.
“BritNed is another step towards an integrated electricity network for Europe,” says Peter Leupp, head of ABB’s Power Systems division. “We are proud to demonstrate once again that we have the technologies needed to modernise the European grid, stabilizing supplies and increasing capacity.”
Other ABB HVDC projects include the world’s longest underground power link, in Australia, and the world’s longest underwater connection, the NorNed project between Norway and the Netherlands, which is under construction.