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25.9.2019 09:00
Power System

The annual maintenance period of the HVDC connections between Finland and Sweden starts

The annual maintenance period of Fenno-Skan 1 and Fenno-Skan 2 high voltage direct current (HVDC) connections starts on Thursday 26th September. This year the target is also  to assess the remaining operational life-time of Fenno-Skan 1. The maintenance preriod ends on 3rd October. 

The annual maintenance period of the high voltage direct current (HVDC) connections Fenno-Skan 1 and Fenno-Skan between Finland and Sweden starts on Thursday 26th September. The main target of the annual maintenance is to ensure high reliability and availability of the HVDC systems.

The period starts with Fenno-Skan 2 outages, which will be finalized by Sunday evening 29th September. Fenno-Skan 1 maintenance outage starts on Saturday 28th September and lasts until Thursday evening 3rd October. The common, so called bipole outage when both Fenno-Skans are out of service is scheduled for the weekend in order to limit the impact of the unavailable crossborder capacity on electricity markets. The bipole outage is required for the maintenance work of the equipment that is common for the both Fenno-Skans.

This year the duration of Fenno-Skan 1 annual maintenance is six days which is 1-2 days longer than the usual duration of Fenno-Skan 1 outage. The need for longer outage period is due to extensive measurements and inspections which are related to the clarification project with target to assess the remaining operational life-time of Fenno-Skan 1. The project was launched in spring 2019 and its need was identified as one of the main outcomes of so called "Kvarken HVDC study", which Fingrid and Svenska kraftnät released in March 2019.

More information: 

Tuomas Rauhala, Fingrid, tuomas.rauhala[at]fingrid.fi 

About the Kvarken HVDC study