NorGer is one of planned electricity cables between Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 and Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

. The other proposed project is NORD.LINK

NORD.LINK

NORD.LINK is a proposed subsea HVDC power cable between Norway and Germany. The feasibility study was completed at the end of 2008. If constructed, the capacity of NORD.LINK is expected to be 1,400 MW. It is estimated to cost €1.4 billion. The interconnector is planned installed between...

.

Description

NorGer interconnector will start in Tonstad

Tonstad

Tonstad is the administrative centre of the municipality of Sirdal in Vest-Agder, Norway. In 2005, its population was 751. It is also a former municipality that is located along the Sirdalsvatnet in the southern part of the present-day municipality of Sirdal....

 in Norway. From Tonstad 70 kilometres (43.5 mi) overhead powerline runs to the Flekkefjord

Flekkefjord

is a town and municipality in the county of Vest-Agder, Norway.The town of Flekkefjord was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 . The rural municipalities of Bakke, Gyland, Hidra, and Nes were merged with Flekkefjord on 1 January 1965.Flekkefjord is the westernmost town of the...

 area. From Flekkefjord a 570 kilometres (354.2 mi) long high voltage direct current submarine cable will run through the North Sea

North Sea

In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...

 to Mooriem in Lower Saxony

Lower Saxony

Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. It will be laid on the Norwegian, German and Danish Continental Shelf

Continental shelf

The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain. Much of the shelf was exposed during glacial periods, but is now submerged under relatively shallow seas and gulfs, and was similarly submerged during other interglacial periods. The continental margin,...

. The precise cable route is decided from a thorough mapping of the sea-bed along the prospective cable route. The sea route is consulted by Offshore Marine Management

Offshore Marine Management

Offshore Marine Management is an independent provider and supplier of managed marine solutions to the Offshore Renewables, Subsea Telecoms and Oil and Gas industries for UK and international markets. Offshore Marine Management specialise in Subsea Cables, Cable Protection, Project Support and...

.

NorGer will have a transmission capacity of 1,400 MW and an operating voltage of 450–500 kV. The sea cable is planned as a bipolar system with earthing through the return cable. This way, the disadvantages of a ground-return electrode with earthing in the sea, such as production of chlorine compounds and metal corrosion are avoided. Anticipated life span of the cable would be about 40 years. Since the power supply in both Germany and Norway is based on alternating current

Alternating current

In alternating current the movement of electric charge periodically reverses direction. In direct current , the flow of electric charge is only in one direction....

, converter stations must be built in both countries.

Project company

The project is developed by NorGer KS, a company that is owned by the Norwegian transmission system operator Statnett

Statnett

Statnett is a Norwegian state owned enterprise responsible for owning, operating and constructing the stem power grid in Norway. The company has its headquarters in Oslo, Norway....

, energy utilities Agder Energi

Agder Energi

Agder Energi is a power company based in Agder, Norway. It is the second largest power producer in Norway, after its largest owner, Statkraft who owns it along with 31 municipalities in the region Agder. It operates 31 hydroelectric power plants, operates the power grid in 31 municipalities, as...

 and Lyse Produksjon, and the Swiss company Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft Laufenburg. NorGer is registered in Norway. Statnett owns 50% of the projects while all other partners own stake of 16.67% each.

Environment

NorGer will utilize the best available technology to limit the cable’s impact on the environment.
Previous investigations show that underwater HVDC cables have no known impact on sea life.

Climate gain

In periods of overproduction, German wind power can be transported to Norway while water in Norwegian reservoirs can be stored for later use. Without access to hydroelectric power it is difficult to utilise the increase in wind power in the German power supply system. The cable connection will also be important for Norway’s plans to utilise more wind power.

Power supply from wind power can vary from hour to hour according to wind strength and access to reserve power is needed to even out the variations. Hydroelectric power, with its unique regulatory capacity is a cheap and reliable balancing power source for wind power.