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18.4.2008 00:00
Press Releases

Submarine cable progressing according to schedule

Swedish cross-border permit secured. The implementation of Fenno-Skan 2, the submarine cable between Sweden and Finland, is progressing as planned. The main official permits required by the cable are in order since the cross-border permit was secured in Sweden yesterday.  The water management permit application process is also going on in Sweden.

The cross-border permit was given by Finnish authorities already last fall in 2007 and water management permit was granted in January 2008. The most extensive delivery contract of the project worth 150 million euros was signed last week between Fingrid, Svenska Kraftnät and Nexans Norway AS. Fenno-Skan 2 is one of Nordel’s five priority cross-sections in the Nordic countries, costing a total of one thousand million euros.

All these cross-sections are due to be ready at around 2010. The new cable interconnector will be commissioned at the end of 2011. Fenno-Skan 2 will increase the electricity transmission capacity between Finland and Sweden by approx. 40 per cent, integrating the Nordic electricity market even more closely together.

In practice, the project will reduce temporary differences in the price of electricity between the various countries within the electricity market. The cable will also reduce losses in the Nordic transmission grids and improve power system security. The costs of system services will reduce, and the risk of power shortage in the Nordel area will diminish. The most extensive contract in the project was signed on April 10th. Fingrid and Svenska Kraftnät chose Nexans Norway AS as the cable manufacturer in March.

The price of the delivery is approx. 150 million euros. The actual manufacture of the subsea cable will commence in the autumn of 2009. The submarine cable will be manufactured at Nexans’ factory based in Halden, Norway. Installation and laying work will start in the spring of 2011, lasting the summer time.

Fenno-Skan 2 will be an 800 megawatt and 500 kilovolt electricity transmission connection between Finland and Sweden. The connection will be a direct current link. The total length of the link will be approx. 270 kilometres, of which the actual submarine cable will account for some 200 kilometres. The submarine cable project is implemented in close co-operation between Fingrid and Svenska Kraftnät. Converter stations will be constructed at each end of the link. In Finland, the new link will be connected to the grid at the Rauma substation. In Sweden, the connection point to the Swedish grid is the Finnböle substation to be built north of Stockholm.


Further information:
Kari Kuusela, Executive Vice President, tel. +358 (0)30 395 5129 or
Timo Kiiveri, Project Manager, tel. +358 (0)30 395 5121