Water management permit granted to submarine cable interconnector

Western Finland Environmental permit Authority has granted a water management permit to the doubling of the submarine cable interconnector between Finland and Sweden. The extension will be carried out in co-operation between Fingrid Oyj and Svenska Kraftnät. The capital expenditure project of more than 300 million euros - FennoSkan 2 - will be complete in 2011. The project will improve considerably the functioning of the Nordic electricity market.   Western Finland Environmental Permit Authority has granted Fingrid Oyj a permit to install a submarine cable from the municipality of Pyhäranta in Finland to the outer boundary of the Finnish economic region and to install a new submarine electrode to replace the old one in the municipality of Uusikaupunki. At the same time, Fingrid Oyj was granted a permanent right to use the parts of the water area required by the submarine cable. The right of use was granted to a part of a shared water area in Rihtniemi in Pyhäranta and of the public water area of the state of Finland, required by the cable. Moreover, a right of use was granted fo the submarine electrode for the neceassary part of the shared water area in Ketteli in Uusikaupunki. The water permit process took about one year, and the reports required by it were drawn up in 2006. The permit application covered the descriptions of aquatic nature in the project area, impacts of the project on aquatic nature and multiple uses of waterways. Cable to be partly submerged in the seabed The cable will be partly submerged in the seabed, which minimises its impacts on the water area and its use. The new transmission link will reduce the corrosion impacts occuring in the region to one fifth of the present level. 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 of these cross-sections are due to be ready at around 2010. The cross-sections aim to facilitate the electricity market mechanisms and improve system security. 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. 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)395 5121