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Siemens and Prysmian selected for COBRA

By: Tom Russell 01/02/2016 TenneT, edited by 4C Offshore

General Interconnectors

TenneT, Dutch Transmission System Operator (TSO), and its Danish counterpart Energinet.dk have signed contracts with Siemens and Prysmian for the construction of the COBRAcable between the Netherlands and Denmark.

TenneT and Energinet.dk's each hold a 50% stake in the COBRA project, which has an investment value of approximately EUR 600m.

Siemens will supply two onshore converter stations for the direct-current connection. The converter stations ensure that electricity supplied by the alternating-current (AC) grids of TenneT and Energinet.dk can be imported and exported across the DC cable link. One will be located in Eemshaven, Netherlands, and the other in Endrup, Denmark.

Prysmian will supply the DC cables and carry out offshore installation works. TenneT explained that the new High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) interconnector will have VSC-technology (Voltage Source Converters) with transmission capacity of 700 megawatts (MW).

TenneT CEO Mel Kroon commented: “Siemens and Prysmian are excellent partners to undertake the realization of this important project. One main purpose of the COBRA cable is to transport electricity between the Netherlands and Denmark. This will promote further competition in the Northwest European energy market, which will ultimately benefit consumers. Because we are directly linking the Dutch and Danish power grids, the security of supply for businesses and consumers in both countries will increase. Plus the Netherlands and Denmark will be able to exchange more wind energy since the wind in both countries is not blowing with the same force on every moment."

COBRA is an abbreviation of ‘COpenhagen BRussels Amsterdam’. The European Commission is supporting the COBRA project with a EUR 86.5 million subsidy under the European Energy Programme for Recovery (EEPR).

The COBRA cable, over 350km long, will create a direct link between the Dutch and Danish power grids. The cable will have a total capacity of 700MW, which is equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of 700.000 households.

The COBRA cable is not the first subsea electricity connection constructed by TenneT. In 2008 the TSO completed the 700MW NorNed cable between the Netherlands and Norway, the world’s longest DC cable link . This was followed in 2011 by the BritNed cable between the Netherlands and the UK.

TenneT is also currently working on the NordLink project, a 1,400 MW subsea cable link between Germany and Norway.

For more information about any of the project mentioned in this article, please follow the links provided. 4C Offshore has detailed information on worldwide interconnector projects on our website's Interconnector database. We also plot project cable routes on our interactive map.

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Siemens and Prysmian selected for COBRA

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