Electricity in Norway is produced mainly from renewable sources. In addition, the country has efficient storage systems for “light”
Norway and Germany have opened a new electricity supply line. The NordLink power cable runs underwater between the two countries. It is intended to increase the supply of green energy to the EU, which is abandoning carbon-based fuels. This is the world’s longest underwater electric line. Its length is 623 km. NordLink’s capacity is 1400 MW. This is enough to provide 3.6 million German households with renewable energy. The project cost 1.8 billion euros.
Current production in Norway is almost entirely based on hydropower. In addition, this country has sufficient infrastructure for storing green energy. This will help to make up for the power outages in Germany, which arise due to the peculiarities of the operation of wind and solar power plants, writes Reuters.
In 2020, Norway exported 20.5 terawatt-hours of electricity in pure form. This is equivalent to 15% of the electricity produced by Germany from brown and hard coal last year.
“NordLink is not only a bilateral German-Norwegian project. This is a new milestone for modern energy supply across Europe, “ German Chancellor Angela Merkel said.
According to her, combining different energy sources from different countries, for example, wind energy in Germany with hydropower in Norway, helps to ensure a reliable energy supply and stabilize the prices of “light” throughout Europe.
“NordLink will promote more efficient use of energy resources and lay the foundation for further investments in the production of renewable energy sources,” added Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg.
This is not the first such project. The NordNed submarine cable connects Norway with the Netherlands and Denmark. In addition, the North Sea Link Norway — United Kingdom is scheduled to be completed in 2021.
“The fact that we now have these connecting lines makes us the center of renewable energy in Europe, and also allows us to take the next step in the development of offshore wind energy,” said Hilde Tonne, CEO of a Norwegian state-owned energy company Statnett.
Norway is preparing to build offshore wind farms in the North Sea. The first licenses are expected to be issued in 2021. Recently, we have already written about how the Norwegian oil and gas giant has rushed to the green energy markets of China and Poland.
