Siemens Secures Order for COBRA HVDC Link

Siemens has been awarded an order to supply a link between the Dutch and Danish power grids.

The customers are Danish Energinet.dk and its Dutch counterpart TenneT TSO. The “COBRA cable” high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) link will enhance power supply reliability in both countries and promote the integration of renewable energy sources into the power grid.

Siemens will supply the two HVDC converter stations at both sides of the DC power line, which will be routed as a subsea cable through the North Sea. The volume of Siemens’ share of the order is around EUR 170 million.

The link is scheduled to take up commercial operation at the beginning of 2019, Siemens wrote.

The HVDC link between Denmark and Holland has been designated as one of the European Commission’s projects of common interest to help create an integrated European Union energy market.

The scope of the order covers two 700 MW converter stations for a DC voltage of ±320 Kilovolt (kV). The two converter stations, one at Eemhaven in Holland, the other in Endrup in Denmark, will be linked by a 325 kilometer-long DC power cable. The customer Energinet.dk will be responsible for all the construction work in Endrup for erecting the building to house the Siemens converter equipment at that station. Siemens will supply the converter station in Eemshaven. The scope of the order includes the system design and the supply, installation and commissioning of all components, the company said.

Both converter stations will be using HVDC Plus voltage-sourced converters in a modular multilevel converter arrangement (VSC-MMC) that convert AC to DC and DC back to AC on the other side of the link.