Norwegian Reservoirs Power Homes in Great Britain Via 724km (450 Mile) Cable
upstart writes:
Norwegian reservoirs power homes in Great Britain via 724km (450 mile) cable:
Norwegian reservoirs will begin powering homes in Great Britain today as the world's longest subsea power cable was switched on, in a boost to renewables and tight energy supplies this winter.
The 724-kilometre North Sea Link is the sixth of a growing network of electricity interconnectors between Great Britain and its European neighbours, to trade energy and adapt to grids increasingly reliant on the variable output of wind, solar and hydro.
First tested in June, the copper cable along the seabed of the North Sea will operate at half its potential for three months before reaching its 1400 megawatt capacity, enough to power 1.4 million homes.
Power is expected to initially mostly flow from Norway, which generates almost [all] electricity from hydro, to Great Britain, where electricity prices are higher. The link may eventually be used to export electricity from offshore windfarms for storage at pumped hydro facilities in Norway, pumping water uphill and releasing it to generate electricity when neeeded[sic].
The start of commercial operations will help Great Britain's tight margins of electricity supply this winter, which are squeezed by a fire taking out half of the capacity of a separate link to France. "It couldn't have come at a better time," says Tom Edwards at energy analysts Cornwall Insight.
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