TSOs Start COBRAcable Flows

Dutch and Danish national transmission system operators (TSOs) Tennet and Energinet are testing the COBRAcable, a high-voltage direct current submarine cable that will interconnect the electricity grids of the two countries.

The testing is planned to take place between 03 July 2019 and 06 September 2019.

The COBRAcable consists of two parallel DC submarine cables linking western Denmark and the Netherlands together.

The total cable route is 329 kilometers of which 307 kilometers are offshore and 22 kilometers are onshore. Two cables are installed in parallel making the total length of cables 658 kilometers.

The cables, supplied by Italian Prysmian who also manages the installation of the cables, are connected to converter stations built in Endrup, east of Esbjerg, Denmark and Eemshaven in the Netherlands, respectively.

The two converter stations are supplied by Siemens.

The connection has a capacity corresponding to the annual electricity consumption by approximately 700,000 households.

The purpose of the COBRAcable is to improve the cohesion of the European transmission grids by increasing the exchange of excess wind power to neighbouring countries and strengthening the electrical infrastructure, the security of supply and the European electricity market.

The COBRAcable will be commissioned in the third quarter of 2019.