Estlink
Encyclopedia
Estlink is a set of HVDC submarine cable
s between Estonia
and Finland
. Estlink 1 is the first interconnection between the Baltic
and Nordic
electricity market
s following by Estlink 2 in 2014. The main purpose of the Estlink connection is to secure power supply in both regions to integrate Baltic and Nordic energy markets.
, Pohjolan Voima
, Helsingin Energia
, Granige (now E.ON Sverige), Latvenergo
, Statkraft
and TXE Nordic Energy, a subsidiary of TXU (now Energy Future Holdings Corporation) started In 1999, and on 9 October 2001 a contract was signed in Tallinn. However, only after the harsh winter of 2002–2003 which resulted in an increased demand for power, the project of the submarine cable between Estonia and Finland got a boost. The letter of intention for underwater sea cable was signed between Eesti Energia, Pohjolan Voima, Helsingin Energia and Latvenergo on 31 March 2003. In May 2004, the Lithuanian power company Lietuvos Energija
agreed to participate in the project, shortly after which the project company AS Nordic Energy Link was established. On 29 April 2005, the Estlink project was launched. Construction of Harku converter station and land cable installation begins on 5 April 2006. The submarine cable was laid in September 2006. The Estlink cable was inaugurated on 4 December 2006 and it became fully operational on 5 January 2007.
400 kV converter station in Järvikylä using HVDC Light transmission technology. The installation of land cable began on 4 May 2006 in Harku
. The submarine cable was laid on the seabed of the Gulf of Finland
in the autumn of 2006. The cable's maximum depth on the seabed is 100 metres (328.1 ft).
The cable is constructed by ABB. The submarine cable was laid by Global Marine Systems
using Sovereign service vessel. The project cost €110 million.
s Elering
and Fingrid
before 2013.
! Name >
Coordinates
Harku
59°23′5"N 24°33′37"E
Finland - Espoo
60°12′14"N 24°33′06"E
substation in Estonia to Anttila substation in Finland. The links is expected to be operational by 2014.
On 23 December 2010, the contract to manufacture and install the subsea and undeground cables was awarded to Nexans
, the contract to build converter stations was awarded to Siemens
, the contract to build the Nikuviken cable terminal station and to expand the Anttila substation in Finland was awarded to Empower Oy, and the contract to build the transmission line between Anttila and Nikuviken was awarded to ETDE, a part of Bouygues
.
Estlink 2 will be a classic monopolar high-voltage direct current connection with line-commutated converter thyristor
s. Its maximum transmission rate will be 650 MW and it will operate with a voltage of 450 kV. Its estimated cost is about €320 million, of which converter stations cost €100 million and cable €180 million. The European Commission has decided to allocate €100 million to the project.
Submarine cable
Submarine cable may refer to:*Submarine communications cable*Submarine power cable...
s between Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
and Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
. Estlink 1 is the first interconnection between the Baltic
Baltic states
The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...
and Nordic
Nordic countries
The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...
electricity market
Electricity market
In economic terms, electricity is a commodity capable of being bought, sold and traded. An electricity market is a system for effecting purchases, through bids to buy; sales, through offers to sell; and short-term trades, generally in the form of financial or obligation swaps. Bids and offers use...
s following by Estlink 2 in 2014. The main purpose of the Estlink connection is to secure power supply in both regions to integrate Baltic and Nordic energy markets.
History
First plans for a submarine power cable between the Baltic and the Nordic regions were proposed in 1990s. Negotiations between Eesti EnergiaEesti Energia
Eesti Energia AS is a state-owned energy company in Estonia with its headquarters in Tallinn. The company operates in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland and Jordan. In Estonia the company operates under the name Eesti Energia, while using the brand name Enefit for international operations...
, Pohjolan Voima
Pohjolan Voima
Pohjolan Voima Oy is the second biggest Finnish energy company, which owns hydropower and thermal power plants . Pohjolan Voima is a founder and main shareholder of the Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant operator Teollisuuden Voima Oy...
, Helsingin Energia
Helsingin Energia
Helsingin Energia , Helsingfors Energi , founded in 1909 and based in Helsinki, is one of the largest energy companies in Finland...
, Granige (now E.ON Sverige), Latvenergo
Latvenergo
Latvenergo is a state-owned energy company in Latvia. The company generates about 70% of the country's electricity.Latvenergo has three hydroelectric power plants, Pļaviņu HES, Rīgas HES and Ķeguma HES-2, with a total installed capacity of 1,463 MWe, two combined heat power plants with electricity...
, Statkraft
Statkraft
Statkraft is a Norwegian state owned electricity company. With a total energy production of 44.9 TWh in 2007, the Statkraft Group is the third largest energy producer in the Nordic region, as well as the largest energy producer based on renewable energy sources in Europe,consisting of 40% of the...
and TXE Nordic Energy, a subsidiary of TXU (now Energy Future Holdings Corporation) started In 1999, and on 9 October 2001 a contract was signed in Tallinn. However, only after the harsh winter of 2002–2003 which resulted in an increased demand for power, the project of the submarine cable between Estonia and Finland got a boost. The letter of intention for underwater sea cable was signed between Eesti Energia, Pohjolan Voima, Helsingin Energia and Latvenergo on 31 March 2003. In May 2004, the Lithuanian power company Lietuvos Energija
Lietuvos Energija
Lietuvos Energija is the main power company in Lithuania. It owns the largest power plant in Lithuania Elektrėnai Power Plant and directly owns two largest hydroelectric plants in the country . It has also stake in the Klaipėda Geothermal Demonstration Plant...
agreed to participate in the project, shortly after which the project company AS Nordic Energy Link was established. On 29 April 2005, the Estlink project was launched. Construction of Harku converter station and land cable installation begins on 5 April 2006. The submarine cable was laid in September 2006. The Estlink cable was inaugurated on 4 December 2006 and it became fully operational on 5 January 2007.
Description
The 105 kilometres (65.2 mi) long (including 74 kilometres (46 mi) under water) +/-150 kV, 350 MW HVDC link cable is connected to the Estonian electrical system at the Harku 330 kV converter station and to the Finnish transmission network at EspooEspoo
Espoo is the second largest city and municipality in Finland. The population of the city of Espoo is . It is part of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area along with the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, and Kauniainen. Espoo shares its eastern border with Helsinki and Vantaa, while enclosing Kauniainen....
400 kV converter station in Järvikylä using HVDC Light transmission technology. The installation of land cable began on 4 May 2006 in Harku
Harku Commune
Harku Parish is a rural municipality in Harju County, northern Estonia, located west and neighbouring the capital Tallinn. It occupies an area of with a population of 11,794 ....
. The submarine cable was laid on the seabed of the Gulf of Finland
Gulf of Finland
The Gulf of Finland is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland and Estonia all the way to Saint Petersburg in Russia, where the river Neva drains into it. Other major cities around the gulf include Helsinki and Tallinn...
in the autumn of 2006. The cable's maximum depth on the seabed is 100 metres (328.1 ft).
The cable is constructed by ABB. The submarine cable was laid by Global Marine Systems
Global Marine Systems
Global Marine Systems is a specialist-shipping company that installs, maintains and repairs submarine communications and power cables.- History :...
using Sovereign service vessel. The project cost €110 million.
Project company
The Estlink cable is operated by AS Nordic Energy Link company, founded by Baltic and Finnish power companies. The main shareholder is Eesti Energia with 39.9% of the shares, Latvenergo and Lietuvos Energija have 25% each, and the remaining 10.1% are divided between Pohjolan Voima and Helsingin Energia (Finestlink). Nordic Energy Link shareholders have agreed to sell the interconnector to the transmission system operatorTransmission system operator
File:Electricity grid simple- North America.svg|thumb|380px|right|Simplified diagram of AC electricity distribution from generation stations to consumersrect 2 243 235 438 Power stationrect 276 317 412 556 Transformer...
s Elering
Elering
Elering is an electric power transmission system operator in Estonia. Elering was established on 1 November 1998 under the name of Põhivõrk as an operating unit of the Estonian national power company Eesti Energia. On 1 April 2004, it became a private limited company, OÜ Põhivõrk, as a subsidiary...
and Fingrid
Fingrid
Fingrid Oyj is a Finnish national electricity transmission grid operator. It is owned by the Finnish state , power companies Fortum and Pohjolan Voima and financial investors . CEO of the company is Jukka Ruusunen....
before 2013.
Sites
Estlink 2
Elering and Fingrid are building a new 650 MW link from PüssiPüssi
Püssi is an urban municipality in Ida-Viru County, Estonia, with a population of 1,838. A large brown heathland is located just to the south of the town, and the Tallinn-Narva railway runs right through the centre of the municipality, before disappearing into the dense forest typical of the...
substation in Estonia to Anttila substation in Finland. The links is expected to be operational by 2014.
History
A preliminary agreement on EstLink 2 was signed between Elering and Fingrid on 15 February 2010 in Tallinn. Capital investment decision by Fingrid was made on 20 May 2010. A construction agreement was signed on 1 November 2010.On 23 December 2010, the contract to manufacture and install the subsea and undeground cables was awarded to Nexans
Nexans
Nexans S.A. is a French company which manufactures copper and optical fiber cable products for the infrastructure, industrial and construction markets. It is the world's largest manufacturer of cables. It has an industrial presence in nearly 40 countries, over 23,000 employees and sales of around...
, the contract to build converter stations was awarded to Siemens
Siemens
Siemens may refer toSiemens, a German family name carried by generations of telecommunications industrialists, including:* Werner von Siemens , inventor, founder of Siemens AG...
, the contract to build the Nikuviken cable terminal station and to expand the Anttila substation in Finland was awarded to Empower Oy, and the contract to build the transmission line between Anttila and Nikuviken was awarded to ETDE, a part of Bouygues
Bouygues
Bouygues S.A. is a French industrial group headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France. Bouygues is listed on Euronext Paris exchange and is a blue chip in the CAC 40 stock market index. The company was founded in 1952 by Francis Bouygues and since 1989 has been led by his son Martin...
.
Description
The total length of Estlink 2 would be 171 kilometres (106.3 mi), including a 145 kilometres (90.1 mi) long offshore cable, a 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) long onshore cable in Estonia, and 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) of overhead lines in Finland. The 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) long underground cable starts at the Püssi substation and runs the coast of the Gulf of Finland. From there the 145 kilometres (90.1 mi) long offshore cable runs to the Nikuviken cable terminal station in Finland. The Nikuviken cable terminal station will be connected with the Attila converter station by the 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) long overhead line. The subsea cable will be laid by the cable ship Nexans Skagerrak.Estlink 2 will be a classic monopolar high-voltage direct current connection with line-commutated converter thyristor
Thyristor
A thyristor is a solid-state semiconductor device with four layers of alternating N and P-type material. They act as bistable switches, conducting when their gate receives a current trigger, and continue to conduct while they are forward biased .Some sources define silicon controlled rectifiers and...
s. Its maximum transmission rate will be 650 MW and it will operate with a voltage of 450 kV. Its estimated cost is about €320 million, of which converter stations cost €100 million and cable €180 million. The European Commission has decided to allocate €100 million to the project.
See also
- Baltic CableBaltic CableThe Baltic Cable is a HVDC power line running beneath the Baltic Sea that interconnects the electric power grids of Germany and Sweden.The Baltic Cable uses a transmission voltage of 450 kV – the highest operating voltage for energy transmission in Germany...
(between Germany and Sweden) - BalticconnectorBalticconnectorBalticconnector is a proposed natural gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia, which would allow to connect the Baltics and Finnish gas grids. The aim of pipeline is to increase Finnish import capacities by using Latvia's natural gas storage facilities in Inčukalns...
(proposed gas pipeline between Estonia and Finland) - Fenno-SkanFenno-SkanFenno–Skan is the designation of the high voltage direct current transmission between Dannebo in Sweden and Rauma in Finland.-History:Fenno–Skan was inaugurated in 1989. Taken into commercial operation in November 1989, Fenno–Skan was the longest submarine power cable in the world...
(between Finland and Sweden) - NordBalt (planned between Lithuania and Sweden)
- SwePolSwepolSwePol is a -long monopolar high-voltage direct current submarine cable between the Stärnö peninsula near Karlshamn, Sweden, and Bruskowo Wielkie, near Słupsk, Poland....
(between Poland and Sweden)