Why the Viking link, the longest high-voltage submarine ever built between two countries?

It is a grand structure and indeed, there is something artisanal about it. Viking Link is the largest land and sea power cable between countries.

Its more than 765 kilometers of electricity were carried across the sea from Denmark to the United Kingdom, an engineering feat that overcame many challenges.

One of them crosses the so-called North Sea, probably one of the shallowest seas in the world. A problem means that security measures are necessary against possible damage or vandalism.

The cable, which weighs about 40kg per meter – three times the weight of a gold bar – will start operating at maximum capacity by the end of December and will carry energy produced at wind farms in both countries.

How does it work?

“Simply, when there is a power shortage in Denmark and the wind is high in the UK, we flip a switch and the electricity changes direction from one area with more electricity to another where it is needed,” explains managing director Rebecca Settler. Interconnectors from National Grid Corporation.

The last part of the link was completed in July with the cable-laying vessel Leonardo da Vinci.

The operation involved removing sections of cables from the water and attaching them to the ship.

Both Denmark and the United Kingdom have set targets to use only zero-carbon electricity by 2030 and 2035, respectively.

Like many other countries, the UK is currently unable to meet its demand for electricity from renewable sources such as wind, solar or biomass or nuclear. That is why gas is burning in the country.

The problem with renewable energy is that it cannot be stored from a sunny day to a cloudy day or from a windy day to a calm day.

Winking Link enables the transmission and distribution of energy where needed.

Denmark has set a target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 70% by 2030 and began investing in wind energy in the 1970s.

Expressway

The Viking Link is actually an electric superhighway crossing the North Sea.

Its construction began in 2019, and to date, more than three million man-hours have been invested in planning and construction. The electrical transmission cable is made of copper, iron, paper and plastic and is buried under the sea.

The cost of the project is US$2.3 billion (about R$11.1 billion). An advantage of this project, according to experts, is the time difference between the two countries, which means that energy usage peaks occur at different times.

While it’s impressive, the Viking Connection isn’t always the longest cable in its class.

The planned Australia-Asia Power Link will link Australia’s northern capital, Darwin, with Indonesia and Singapore, with a total length of 4,200 kilometres.

kilometers of cables

The oceans are full of underwater telecommunications cables. It is estimated that over one million kilometers of cables are installed across the planet.

In September 2017, Microsoft, Facebook and global telecommunications infrastructure company Telxius completed the Maria submarine cable, which crosses the Atlantic Ocean at a depth of more than 5,000 meters, connecting Virginia Beach in the United States to Bilbao in Spain.

The cables are placed on special vessels that slowly drop large coils to the sea floor.

The peculiarity of the Viking is precisely that it transmits electrical energy.

Telegeography, an American telecommunications consultancy, created the Submarine Cable Map Portal, an interactive map of all submarine cables used in the world with data from companies such as Google, Facebook, Amazon, Verizon or AT&T.

There are more than 400 submarine cables spanning 1.3 million kilometers around the world.

From the map we can see that an important highway is located in the Atlantic Ocean connecting Europe and North America.

On the other hand, the great Pacific “Highway” connects America with Japan, China and other Asian countries.

From Miami, several cables reach Central and South America.

For example, in the case of Mexico, most cables run from the east of the country and cross the Gulf of Mexico to Florida, from where they connect to Central and South America.