Danish minister approves COBRAcable
Published 2.6.2014 09.44
In cooperation with Dutch TenneT, Energinet.dk is going to establish a 700 MW cable connection between Denmark and the Netherlands, called COBRA. The Danish Minister for Climate, Energy and Building has now given his seal of approval to the plans.
Rasmus Helveg Petersen, Danish Minister for Climate, Energy and Building, has approved Energinet.dk’s application for investment in COBRA – a DC submarine cable that will interconnect the Danish and Dutch power grids.
Pursuant to the Danish Act on Energinet.dk (Lov om Energinet.dk), any investments in the transmission grid exceeding DKK 100 million must be approved by the Minister.
Energinet.dk is cooperating with the Dutch TSO TenneT on the COBRA project, and TenneT is still waiting for the final Dutch approval. Once both countries have okayed the project, the companies can start the construction project, including tender procedures for cable, converters and buildings and subsequent negotiations with potential suppliers.
- The Minister’s approval is an important milestone for the project, says Dorthe Vinther, Vice President, Electricity System Development at Energinet.dk, and points out that a COBRA cable is good for the economy in both countries:
- In Denmark, it means good business for power stations, CPH plants, wind turbine owners and other electricity producers, which will get the chance to export more electricity. Denmark gets one more connection to a neighbouring country and can import electricity when the wind turbines aren’t running here in Denmark, and the Netherlands can purchase electricity from us when we have energy to spare, says Dorthe Vinther.
Permission is also required from the Danish Nature Agency before ground can be broken. The project is subject to an environmental impact assessment obligation, and the cable route must also be approved in both Germany and the Netherlands. Finally, it is a condition that the prices negotiated fall within the framework of the Minister’s approval, and this we will not know until at the end of 2015.
The COBRA connection may be operational from 2019. EU funding for the COBRA project will amount to EUR 86.5 million, approx. DKK 645 million.
In connection with the environmental impact assessment process, Energinet.dk has already held public meetings in Endrup near Esbjerg and on the island of Fanø to announce the plans and to listen to people’s wishes and criticism.
At Endrup, Energinet.dk is proposing the construction of a large converter station, and the cable is to be routed across Fanø and via the Jutland Wadden Sea and the North Sea before reaching Eemshaven in the Netherlands.
The Municipality of Esbjerg has just submitted the local development plan and a town plan supplement for the construction in Endrup for consultation.
