Final cable test complete for National Grid’s Viking Link interconnector

The final cable testing for the world’s longest onshore and subsea HVDC interconnector is now complete.

 

Testing on the 475-mile Viking Link cable, which will join the UK with Denmark, took place between Thursday 24 and Friday 25 August to prove the integrity of the cables between the two countries.

 

The test took place between the UK Converter site, and connection point, at Bicker Fen and the Danish Converter site at Revsing. The cable was tested to 735,000 volts equivalent to 1.4 times its operational voltage of 525,000 volts, which proved the cable terminations, land and submarine joints.

 

The whole project is due to be completed by the end of the year. Viking Link joins Lincolnshire in the UK with Jutland in Denmark. Once complete, it will have the ability to transport 1.4GW of clean electricity between the two countries – enough to power approximately 1.4 million UK homes.

 

The Viking Link Team worked alongside principal contractors Prysmian Group to carry out the tests.

 

Viking Link is a £1.7 billion joint project between National Grid and Danish system operator Energinet.   

The HVDC cable, manufactured and laid by Prysmian and NKT, has been laid in sections between the two countries commencing in 2021.

 

The successful result is a huge milestone for the project and follows the completion of the Viking Link cable laying earlier last month.  

 

Viking Link Project Director Phil Sandy said: “We are delighted to have successfully completed the final cable test. This means the cable is ready to operate once the commissioning process is complete. This is a key milestone in the project and marks the end of the cable installation process.”

 

Viking Link will be National Grid’s sixth interconnector to Europe. The company already has five operational interconnectors to France (IFA) and IFA2, the Netherlands (BritNed), Belgium (Nemo Link) and Norway (North Sea Link).

 

Following the completion of Viking Link, National Grid will have enough interconnector capacity (7.8 gigawatts) to power 8 million homes. By 2030 90% of electricity imported via National Grid’s interconnectors will be from zero carbon sources.