THE NORNED HVDC CABLE LINK

A POWER TRANSMISSION HIGHWAY BETWEEN

NORWAY AND THE NETHERLANDS
Jan-Erik Skog1

Kees Koreman2 Bo Pjrvi3

Thomas Worzyk4
Thomas Andersrd5
1
[email protected], Statnett, N-0302 Oslo Norway
2
[email protected], TenneT, NL-6800 AS Arnhem, The Netherlands
3
[email protected], ABB Power Technologies, SE-77180 Ludvika, Sweden
4
[email protected], ABB Power Technologies, SE-37123 Karlskrona, Sweden
5
[email protected], Nexans, N-0509 Oslo, Norway

ABSTRACT
The NorNed HVDC Cable Link is under
construction. The transmission connects the hydropower based Norwegian grid with fossil fuelled ac
system in The Netherlands. The 700 MW, 580 km
long link will be the longest cable transmission in
the world and will be in commercial operation
towards the end of 2007.
1.

Otherwise is injected into the DC cables. The

midpoint in Feda is isolated from earth with an
arrester to protect the midpoint from over-voltages.
To optimize the rating of the over-voltage
protection in the midpoints a RC damping circuit is
installed in both midpoints.
The configuration is shown in Figure 1.

INTRODUCTION

+450 kV
DC-cable

This paper describes the novel technology used in

both converter stations and in the submarine cable
system especially suitable for an extremely long
cable HVDC connection.
The flexibility and speed in controlling the level
and direction of the power flow gives a number of
benefits like increased security of electricity supply,
improved utilization of the power plants, reduced
CO2 emissions and assistance in further
development of renewable wind power.
Further the functionality in power exchange and the
trading mechanism is outlined.
2.

TECHNOLOGY

2.1

Transmission configuration

The main circuit configuration consists of a 12pulse converter 450 kV with the mid point
earthed and two cables. The arrangement is a very
attractive solution for a single converter block
scheme for extremely long cable transmissions. The
transmission voltage is effectively 900 kV giving
fairly low cable current and low losses. The total
losses are 3.7 % at 600 MW load. The DC link is
designed to operate continuously at 700 MW when
all converter cooling equipment is in operation.
The converter midpoint earth in Eemshaven
constitutes the zero DC Voltage potential reference
for the DC side. This is accomplished by a midpoint
reactor which also blocks 6-pulse harmonic currents

Eemshaven

-450 kV

Feda

Figure 1. NorNed main circuit configuration

2.2

Converter stations

The converter stations are located at the Feda

substation in Norway and at the Eemshaven
substation in The Netherlands.
In Feda the AC side equipment is connected to the
300 kV AIS substation and placed outdoors. In
Eemshaven the AC side equipment is connected to
the 380 kV GIS station by cables and the AC filters
are located indoors. Further the DC side equipment
in Eemshaven is installed in a DC hall to avoid
problems with flashover due to salt contamination
from the sea.
The converter transformers are of single phase,
three winding type. Six double-valves in the valve
hall are arranged to provide the +- 450 kV twelvepulse converter. The twelve-pulse converter has a
voltage rating of 900 kV while the DC voltage to
ground is 450 kV. Each single valve has 120
thyristors including three redundant devices. The
smoothing reactors are 700 mH, oil-insulated type
with the bushings protruding into the valve hall and
DC hall(NL). As the DC cables are entering straight

into the converter stations there are no DC filters

required.
The AC filters and shunt capacitor banks provides
totally 485 Mvar of reactive power in Feda and 432
Mvar in Eemshaven.

The configurations are as follows:

Feda

Two 100 Mvar filter banks each consisting

of one double-tuned 11th/13th filter branch
of 48 Mvar and one HP24 branch of 52
Mvar
One HP3 filter bank of 95 Mvar
Two shunt capacitor banks each of 95
Mvar.

Eemshaven
Two 110 Mvar filter banks each consisting
of one double-tuned 11th/13th filter branch
of 50 Mvar and one HP24 branch of 60
Mvar
Two shunt capacitor banks each of 106
Mvar.

The cable starts at Feda in Norway and runs

through a 1.4km long tunnel down to a jointing
chamber. Here the cable is jointed to the submarine
cable. From there the cable runs through a 150m
long micro tunnel down to the seabed approx. 45m
under sea level. Further on the cable goes 156km
out the Fedafjord and is jointed to the ABB singlecore cable.
The deep part MI type cable has been developed
extensively over the last 15 years and it is certified
for transmission of 800 MW at 500 kV, according
to Electra No 72. The mechanical test on this cable
was conducted for 500 m depth according to Electra
No. 68.
The design parameters of the MI cable are:
Power to be transmitted
The given voltage level
The transient voltage level
The maximum allowable electrical stresses
in no-load and full-load conditions
1
2
3
4

2.3

Cable system

6
7

General

8
9

The cable system consists of a mass impregnated

paper insulated cable type. This cable technology is
more than 100 years old and it was employed in the
first submarine HVDC cable in 1954. Although
other insulation materials have been used time and
again the MI type of insulation is the one over 90 %
of all HVDC submarine transmission projects
employ.
This cable system is split in two, a shallow part
delivered by ABB and a deep part delivered by
Nexans Norway AS. The system is built as a
bipolar system consisting of two HVDC cables of
580km each. The maximum transmission capacity
is 700 MW.

10
11
12

No.

Constituents

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

Nominal
diameter
(mm)

Conductor, copper
Conductor screen
Insulation
Insulation screen
Fabrick tape
Lead sheath, F3
Polyethylene sheath, MDPE
Bedding tape
Reinforcement
Bedding tape
Armour, galvanized steel wires,
two layers
Outer serving/PP yarn

12

Deep part system

The deep part system consists of:
2x1.5km Tunnel Cable NODE-L 450kV
1x760mm2.
2x156km Submarine Cable NOVA-L
450kV 1x700mm2.
2xOil filled Sealing End EOPU 450kV
2xTransition Joint Submarine to Tunnel
cable.
Both the submarine and the Tunnel cable is a MI
type of cable.

Nominal
thickness
(mm)

Nominal Cable weight: 35.2 kg/m

Figure 2 Drawing of Submarine MI cable

Shallow part system
The Shallow cable covers the largest part of the 580
km transmission distance. Beside the electric data,
the design of submarine HVDC cables must take
other parameters into consideration, such as:

Water depth

107

Burial depth
Thermal resistivity of the sea bottom
Annual variation of the sea bottom
temperature and sea water

Data related to the sea bottom conditions can only

be achieved by a comprehensive route survey.
Based on these data, and operational and test
requirements, the dimensions of the constructive
layers of the cable can be designed. As conditions
change along the route, the optimum cable design
would also be different for different route sectors.
However, it is prudent to keep the number of
variations small in a given project. For the NorNed
submarine cable, three different designs from two
suppliers were chosen.
The shallow part is covered by two different ABB
cable designs:
a) the single core HVDC cable. A pair of this cable
will run through approx 154 km of North Sea in up
to 70 m of water. The cable is very similar to the
Deep part cable depicted in Figure 2.
b) the double-core FMI (=Flat Massimpregnated) cable shown in Figure 3. This cable

counter-helical steel wire armouring protects the

flat cable. It offers an extremely low outside
magnetic field as the conductors with counteracting currents are only 100 mm apart. Also, both
cores can be laid in a single operation. Due to the
small distance between the heat generating
conductors, the ohmic losses in the FMI cable are
reduced by using a slightly larger cross section (790
mm2) compared to the single-core cables (700
mm2).
The FMI cable will run along approx. 270 km of
water.
Although the tensional forces during cable laying
are very moderate in the shallow waters, both ABB
submarine cable types are provided with a strong
double-helical steel wire armouring. The wire
armouring is a part of a cable protection system
which, together with burying of the cable into the
sea bottom, protects the cable from external impacts
from e.g. anchors and fishing gear. Statistics show
that the overwhelming majority of submarine cable
faults are caused by external impact. A convincing
protection system is important to keep availability
high.
A 28 km portion of the FMI cable is equipped with
a fibre-optical temperature sensor embedded into
the armouring. See Figure 3. It enables a distributed
temperature measurement along the cable route
closest to the Dutch coast. This route portion is
particularly interesting for temperature monitoring
as the sea bottom morphology is prone to
considerable changes. Temperature measurements
can potentially also reveal changes in the cable
environment.
Land cables
Beside the submarine cable the shallow part also
comprises a pair of 790 mm2 single-core land
cables. As the requirements for tensional strength
and impact protection are considerably lower than
for the submarine cables the land cables have only
one layer of steel wire armouring. The length of the
land cables is approx. 1500 m. They are laid in an
open trench between the FMI landfall and the
converter station in Eemshaven.

Figure 3. Submarine FMI cable

design is a novelty. It comprises two independent

cable cores each representing a complete electric
system. The FMI cable comprises two independent
cable cores each rated 450 kV dc put side by side
into a common steel wire armouring. Each cable
core has its own insulation, metallic sheath and
plastic sheath. An extruded plastic profile between
the cores supports the cable cores. A common

3.

AC SYSTEM CHARACTERISTICS

3.1

Norway

The Norwegian AC system is characterised by its

extreme amount of hydropower. The highest

density of plants is found in the west. The system

therefore is characterised by strong transmission
lines west east to the most densely populated
areas around Oslofjord.
When considering linking of the Dutch and the
Norwegian systems it is important to note that the
coupling in fact is to the Nordic system (Nordel),
ref. Figure 4.

Figure 5 Actual production since 1975

This great difference as compared to the continental
power generation system is one of the main drivers
motivating NorNed.
3.2

The Netherlands

The converter station will be connected to the

Dutch AC-network in Eemshaven. This substation
is an indoor GIS substation based on a breakerand-a-half scheme.
Two generators are connected to the 380 kV
substation in Eemshaven in addition to the HVDC
converter. Next to the two transformers, 220
kV/380 kV with a rated power of 750 MVA each,
connect the 380 kV substation to the adjacent 220
kV substation.
A single line diagram is given in Figure 6.
EC-7

EC-6

HVDC

Figure 4 Scandinavian grid

It is easy to see that the Norwegian grid is not
particularly strong in the south. This is a challenge
in the import situation and is now carefully being
studied as part of the detailed engineering of
NorNed.
An already planned upgrade of the grid between
Evje and Holen north of Kristiansand will when in
place, improve the situation drastically.

TR-1

Meeden-1

Meeden-2

TR-2

Figure 6 Schematic diagram substation Eemshaven

The Norwegian AC system is also characterised by

the large variance in power production caused by
the greatly varying precipitation, ref. Figure 5.

A four circuit 380 kV line, two of which are

currently operated at 220 kV, connects the
substation with the main 380 kV network in The
Netherlands. All circuits have a rated capacity of
2500 MVA (4000 A). The circuits terminate in
substation Meeden where a coupling with the
UCTE network exists.

TWh/year

The connection of the NorNed converter station to

the 380 kV network can be considered a strong
connection. The impedance of the system is low
leading to a high short circuit level of 18.5 GVA.

Actual production

Demand forecast
10% wet year inflow

140
120
100
90% dry year inflow

80
Total demand

Average hydro
power production

60
40
20
0

Year

1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020

The strong 380 kV system also means that the

reactive power requirements for the HVDC system
are moderate. The reactive power exchange with
the AC system may vary between 100 Mvar to the
grid and 50 Mvar from the grid depending on the
transmitted power with a zero Mvar exchange at
700 MW transmitted power.
The existence of power generators at the connection
point has lead to the requirement that during the
design of the HVDC system particular attention
needed to be paid to the interaction between the
converter system and the generators. This sub
synchronous resonance study showed that the
effects are minimal so no special measures need to
be taken into the HVDC control system.
The Dutch grid code imposes strong requirements
with respect to harmonics in the connection point.
The European requirements for 35 kV networks and
lower as given in EN 50160 are also mandatory for
380 kV networks in The Netherlands. The grid code
also prescribes that a continuous measurement of
the harmonic distortion shall be present in the
connection point.

flexibility in power transmission thereby leading to

optimal power market facilitation.

5.

TRADING MECHANISM

NorNed will be the first power link between Nordel

and the continent planned to be open to the power
market. The principles for this arrangement have
been agreed; the details are still being worked on.
The main trading over the link is presumed to be
one day ahead spot market trading based on the
price difference between the markets. A typical
price difference curve is shown in fig. 7.
Snitt prisforskjell pr dgn = 0
Snitt prisforskjell pr tim e = 100

Pris (kr/MWh)

400
Handelsinntekt

350

Vann
Termisk

300

Eksporter
Vannkraft

250
200

Importer Termisk kraft

150

At present the maximum ramping speed of the

connection is fixed at 20 MW/min leading to a full
power reversal in 1 hour. It is however expected
that the power market will require a higher ramping
speed leading to a full power reversal in less than
half an hour. It has be taken into the design of
NorNed that the ramping speed can be set manually
or automatically between 1 MW/minute and 100
MW/minute to obtain maximum flexibility in the
operation of the link.
It is also expected that the inherent overload
capacity of NorNed shall be utilized extensively. A
continuous load prediction system is currently
being developed together with the suppliers to
facilitate this. This system will inform the operators
about the allowable transmission capacity
dependent on the environmental conditions and
historical transmitted power values. The HVDC
cable will be equipped with a temperature
monitoring system in the thermal bottlenecks
(landfalls and Waddenzee crossing) to increase the
accuracy of the load prediction system. It is
foreseen that this system will largely increase the

100
50

24

22

20

18

16

14

12

10

0
0

4.
UTILIZATION OF THE LINK
The development of the HVDC connection between
Norway and The Netherlands is strongly motivated
by differences in the power markets in both
countries. This difference imposes that the actual
power transmission in the NorNed link may change
several times a day.

Time

Figure 7 Typical price difference curve

In spite of quite equal average spot market prices
the hour-by-hour differences are quite significant
most of the time.
The practical arrangement for the market coupling
is still being studied and developed. The parties
have agreed that APX (Amsterdam Power
Exchange) and Nordpool (the Nordic Power
Exchange) shall administer the presumed implicit
auction system for power trade. The way the power
exchanges will be compensated will be agreed and
the direct net income from the trade will be shared
50/50 between TenneT and Statnett.
The linking into Nordpool, physically through
Norway, has already commercially been organised
by the fact that the Scandinavian countries are part
of the Nordpool power market.
The development towards more European
integration with respect to power trade is, however,
not finalised. Presently the parties therefore are
looking into possibilities for multi market coupling

systems to possibly find an even more sustainable

trading system for NorNed.
The parties also have a principle agreement
regarding trade with system services, e.g. reserve
power. Within the existing ETSO regime these
possibilities are not readily available. It is, however,
believed that these formal hindrances will disappear
in the future.

6.

CONCLUSIONS

The NorNed HVDC Cable link will be the first

power link directly between Norway and continent.
The main power trading over the link is planned to
be one day ahead spot market trading based on the
price differences between the markets. The
practical arrangement for the market coupling is
still being studied and developed. The direct
income from the trade will be shared 50/50 between
TenneT and Statnett.
The link will further provide increased security of
supply, improved utilization of the power plants,
reduced CO2 emissions and assist in further
development of renewable wind power.
The components in the transmission are proven and
have been used in many HVDC cable schemes.
However the configuration used is new with one
12-pulse converter for +- 450 kV DC transmission
voltage connected to two cables. This arrangement
is very suitable for extremely long transmissions.
The NorNed cable will be by far the longest cable
link, 580 km route distance. Despite this long
distance the electrical losses are quite low, 3.7 % at
600 MW transmitted power.
References
[1] EN- 50160:1999; Voltage characteristics of
electricity supplied by public distribution
systems
[2] T. Worzyk: Keine Gefahr bei Lecks in HGSeekabeln, Journal Article,
Elektrizittswirtschaft, Vol. 26, 1996