World Record HVDC Submarine Cables

On Oct. 1, 1993 a new 350 kV/440 MW HVDC cable was commissioned between Norway and Denmark. This 127 km-long, Skagerrak 3 cable was manufactured by Alcatel &bel Norge and was designed for twice the loading capacity of two existing cables across the Skagerrak Sea. It was installed at a record maximum sea depth of 530 m. During the summer of 1994 a 250 km-long, 450 kV/600 MW HVDC cable will be installed across the Baltic Sea from Sweden to Germany This Baltic Cable, manufactured by ABB High Voltage Cables, will set a world record for voltage level, length and transmission capacity. The main benefit of these long-distance HVDC cables is an increased load exchange capacity between hydroelectric power stations in Norway and Sweden and various European thermal

power systems. In Scandinavia, the use of electricity is highest during the winter, at a time when there is a low inflow of water. Therefore, considerable water storage capacity, in combination with pumped storage systems, has been built up, and the peak load capacity exceeds the domestic consumption. In years of above average rainfall, the excess flow of water can be used for the export of power. During times of low rainfall the Scandinavian market will have access to the European power network. In general this thermal power system is capacity-constrained a n d well-adjusted for base load production. Therefore more trading of electricity between a hydropower-driven network and a mainly coal and nuclear-driven network shows attractive economic as well as environmental benefits. Fig. 1 illustrates the remarkable development of HVDC submarine cables in Scandinavian waters. The w o r l d s

Fig. 2 Typical construction of HVDC mass-impregnated cables (Photo:Alcatel)

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first HVDC submarine cable was installed between the Swedish mainland and the island of Gotland in 1954. During the last 40 years the loading capacity has been increased from 100 kV/20 MW to 450 kV/600 MW, a development made possible by improved material properties and more advanced manufacturing and laying technology The insulation system is still based o n the well-proven, mass-impregnated, lapped paper insulation, with an unpressuriaed viscous impregnation compound specially developed for dc application. A major challenge has been to reduce the high electric field gradients during load variations. In addition, problems related to high mechanical tension during laying in deep waters has been overcome by integrated cable/joint design and crosswire armouring. Atypical design of a modern HVDC cable is shown in Fig. 2. The Skagerrak 3 cable has a 1400 mm2 copper conductor and an insulation thickness of 18 mm. Fully equipped with lead sheath and steel armouring, the weight is approximately 60 kg/m. The Baltic Cable,

Fig. 1 Existing and new HVDC submarine cables in Scandinavian waters

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News From Scandinavia

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which is to belayed at a relativelyshallow sea depth of 40 m, has a 1600mm2 copper conductor, an insulation thickness of 19mm and a weight of 56kg/m. The specialized Norwegian vessel c/s Skagerrak is used for laying both the Skagerrak 3 and the Baltic Cable. Advanced ship navigation and remote controlled underwater vehicles are used to avoid obstacles and to perform controlled and accurate laying. Due to their heavy weight, the cables had to be installed in two laying operations. Failure statisticsshow that ship anchors and heavy fishing tools (beam trawlers) represent the most frequent cause of failure. Therefore, the Skagerrak 3 cable was buried from the Danish coast to a length of 70 km.The Baltic Cable will, however, not be buried due

to low risk of such mechanical impact in the Baltic Sea. The Skagerrak3 cable was successfully buried using the water jetting system CAPJET, developed by Alcatel Kabel Norge. After the laying operation this system follows the cable on the seabed producing a 0.5 to 1.5 m deep trench into which the cable sinks. At the landing sites both cables were laid into concrete troughs down to 5 to 15 m. The cables typically represent half the total cost of the cable projects, which add up to investments of 170 and 250 million US $ for the Skagerrak 3 and the Baltic Cable, respectivelyThe new transformers, rectifiers and converter units are delivered by ABB Power Systems. The Baltic Cable represents a monopolar link using the sea for the return of the current. At each landing site, 800 m2 titanium nets will be used as sea electrodes for this equipotential con-

nection. The Skagerak 3 cable constitutes a dipol system together with the two existing250 kV cables operated in parallel. In this case only the currrnt difference between these two cables and the new 350 kV cable flow in the sea connection. Recently, several feasibility studies have shown that it may be beneficial to exchange electrical energy diretly through HVDC links between the southern part of Norway and Germany or the Netherlands, distances of approximately 600 km. Currently a 400 kV/ 600 MW HVDC link is being designed between Sjaelland in Denmark and Rostock in Germany. This Kontek link is describedas the HVDC link with the longest land cable in the world and its submarine cable will cross the Baltic Cable. Thus, in a few years, new world records for HVDC cables will be set in Scandinavianwaters. -Erling Ildstud

NEWS FROM ITALY

chini, Sede Centrale AEI, viale Monza 259, 20126 Milano. Telephone: +39.2.25779.1;Fax: +39.2.2570512. Another, more specialized,meeting was scheduled to be held July 7-9 in Palerrno, the largest city of Sicily It was the annual meeting of the National Research Council researchers in the area of electrical machines, electrical drives (especiallyfor transportation applications), power electronics, insulating

by Luigi Centurioni

Summer-AutumnEvents in Italy
From Oct. 2 to Oct. 5, 1994,the AEI (the Italian equivalent of the IEEE) will hold its 95th Annual Meeting in Bologna, a medieval city situated 200 km from Milan and 400 km from Rome. The working language of the meeting will be Italian. Main topics of the papers to be presented are: Electric Networks (and electric systems for transportation); Power Lines (energy production and transport and diagnosticsof components);Substations (and automation); Machines, Components and Materials; Alternative Energy Sources; Processing of Residuals; Telecommunications (telemonitoring and optoelectronics);Diagnostics and Measurements (and EMC problems); Information Technology (and microelectronics) and other subjects. More than 100papers are expectedto be presented. The proceedingsof the meeting will be available from: Sig. Gerard0 Luc-

materials, and related measurement and diagnostic techniques. The working language of that meeting was Italian. More than 60 papers were expected, and the proceedings are available from: ing. Rosario Miceli, Dipartimento Ingegneria Elettrica, viale della Scienze, 98128 Palermo, Italy. Telephone: +39.91.6566206; Fax: +39.91.488452. -Luigi Centurioni

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