A planned subsea power link between Denmark and Britain is expected to start at the end of 2022, later than previously expected, the grid companies said as they announced plans for a seabed survey.
National Grid and Danish partner Energinet.dk have started the process to appoint a marine contractor to carry out sea bed surveys for the planned 400 mile link between the western coast of Denmark and the east coast of England in Lincolnshire.
Britain is banking on power links with Europe to pick up the slack of its dwindling power capacity and to keep a lid on rising bills.
The exact timing for the start of the 1,400-megawatt Viking link would depend upon obtaining all of the necessary consents and a final investment decision in early 2018.
The Viking link was one of several power interconnections shortlisted by Britain’s energy market regulator Ofgem a year ago, with an expected connection date of October 2020.
The interconnector will give Britain access to a low carbon power source, while opening a new export route for Denmark and other Nordic countries to sell output from their wind and hydro power plants.
National Grid and the Norwegian transmission system operator Statnett also plan to build a 1,400 MW subsea link between the two countries by 2021.