The principals for expanding and smartening the electricity grid in Europe are the operators of the high-voltage grid in Denmark Energinet and its Dutch counterpart TenneT. The new "COBRAcable " (high-voltage direct current connection) will increase the security of supply of electrical energy in both countries and promote the integration of renewable energy sources into the electricity grid (Sustainable energy). For the contract, Siemens will supply HVDC converter stations on both sides of the DC link, which will be laid as a submarine cable through the North Sea. This cable will be supplied by the Italian company Prysmian,one of the largest cable suppliers in the world. Siemens' share of the contract has a value of around EUR 170 million. The link is expected to be commercially commissioned in early 2019.
The HVDC link between Denmark and the Netherlands is one of the European Commission's projects of common interest that should eventually lead to a
integrated energy market for the European Union.
"It is our great pleasure, together with Energinet .dk, TenneT and Prysmian, to start developing this advanced European electricity system," said JanMrosik, CEO of Siemens' Energy Management division. "In fiscal year 2015, Siemens built HVDC Plus connections across Europe with a total capacity of 4.9 GigaWatts.
With the COBRAcable order, we will bring another 4.6 GigaWatts online in the coming years, making a significant contribution to the integration of a European power grid."
TenneT CEO Mel Kroon said, "Siemens and Prysmian are outstanding partners for the realisation of this important project. One of the main goals of the COBRAcable is to promote competition in the energy market in Northwest
Europe, which will ultimately benefit consumers. And because we are directly connecting the Dutch and Danish grids, security of supply for both businesses and consumers will also further increase.
In addition, the Netherlands will be able to import more green power, mainly generated by Danish wind farms."
The HVDC link between Denmark and the Netherlands is one of the European Commission's projects of common interest, which should eventually lead to an integrated energy market for the European Union.
The contract consists of two converter stations with a capacity of 700 MW and around 320 kV (kiloVolt) DC voltage. The two converter stations - one at Eemshaven in the Netherlands and the other at Endrup in Denmark - will be interconnected by a 325-kilometre-long DC cable. Moreover, for underground high-voltage connections with a length of more than 80 kilometres, HVDC is the only solution that enables cost-effective power transmission with little transmission loss .
Energinet.dk is responsible for all construction work in Endrup for the construction of the hall that will house Siemens' converter equipment.
Siemens will deliver the Eemshaven converter station on a turnkey basis. The contract also includes the system design and the supply, installation and commissioning of all components.
The HVDC Plus technology of both stations is based on VSC (Voltage Sourced Converters) in MMC (Modular Multi-level Converter) construction mode that convert alternating current to direct current at one end of the connection and then convert from direct current to alternating current again at the other end. Unlike converters with grid commutation, as previously supplied by Siemens in the Netherlands at the BritNed link to England, the HVDC Plus system works with power transistors that can also be switched off (IGBT), allowing the commutation processes in the converter to run independently of the grid voltage. The fast control and intervention capabilities of the converters ensure a high degree of stability in the transmission system, preventing grid faults and disturbances in the AC grid in particular. This guarantees significantly higher security of supply for electricity suppliers and Siemens Nederland N.V.
