Submarine Cable Link The Baltic Cable HVDC Connection Sweden / Germany Sweden Germany Cable data Project content Voltage 450 kV DC HVDC cable and accessories Power 600 MW HVDC converter stations Length 250 km Cable system design Conductor 1600 mm2 Cu Project management Insulation MIND Installation (on land and at sea) Weight 55 kg/m Customer Baltic Cable AB Year 1994 World record holder for length, voltage and power Four new world record were set in 1994 Cable Route by ABB, with the successful completion The Västra Kärrstorp converter station of the Baltic Cable HVDC transmission in Sweden was built close to an existing link between Sweden and Germany: transformer station at Arrie, south of Malmö and about 17 km from the coast. 1) Stretching over 250 km, it was the The link was first routed through a 12 longest submarine HVDC cable km overhead line, then by land for about ever laid. 5.3 km to the coast. From there it runs 2) At 600 MW, the Baltic Cable is one across the bottom of the Baltic Sea to of the most powerful HVDC cables the mouth of the River Trave in in commercial operation. Germany. The cable then follows the 3) With 450 kV DC, the cable has the course of the Trave for a distance of 12 highest voltage rating of all existing km until it reaches the Herrenwyk submarine HVDC cables. converter station in the outskirts of 4) The 5.3 km land section of the Lübeck in Germany. The total length of cable in Sweden was laid in one the link is 262 km, of which 250 km are continuous length in an open-cut HVDC power cables. In addition ABB trench. supplied almost 100,000 m of XLPE electrode cables. ABB was the turnkey contractor for the project, and was responsible for Installation supplying the cables as well as the The submarine cable laid across the converter stations at both ends. Tthe Baltic Sea has a length of 233 km and wide range of know-how within the weighs some 13,000 metric tons. Since ABB Group, proved to be vital for the no cable-laying ship currently in existence can cope with such a weight, rapid and successful development and the cable is provided by steel tape and two the cable had to be laid in two sections, completion of the project. layers of steel-wire armour. The steel wires joined with a field splice. Both sections are applied in opposite directions to form a of the cable were loaded directly on The Cable counter-helix, which eliminates any The Baltic Cable is a MIND cable: board the laying ship at our factory’s torsional stress. An outer serving of mass-impregnated, non-draining, paper- deep-sea port at Karlskrona. The River bitumen-bonded polypropylene yearn insulated HVDC cable. It has a 1600 Trave installation was carried out using protects the cable from corrosion. mm2 copper conductor consisting of a barge, and the electrode systems were also installed using ordinary vessels. concentric layers of keystone-shaped Electrode System strands, optimising a smooth surface Since the cable system is a monopole Commissioning with very compact construction. installation, the return current is transmitted The Baltic Cable HVDC link came into via a sea-electrode system. To guard against commercial operation on December 1, A layer of semi-conducting carbon paper the possibility of the electrode current 1994, launching a new era of power on the surface of the conductor causing corrosion in the armour of the main transmission and power exchange within eliminates any possible unevenness, cable, the electrodes and the main cable are Europe. which would otherwise increase the separated. The anode consists of a titanium field-strength locally. The paper wire-mesh, while the cathode is a large insulation is 19 mm thick, and consists copper ring. of over 250 thin layers of sulphate cellulose paper, which is first vacuum- Production dried and then impregnated with a high- The complete Baltic Cable was viscosity insulating oil. manufactured in our Karlskrona factory, Outside the paper insulation is a which is specially-designed to cater for the conductive layer of carbon and production of long, powerful, submarine metallized paper. A hermetically sealed high voltage cables. The cable was lead sheath with a PE jacket protects the produced in continuous lengths of about insulation from moisture or water 130,000 metres, and the entire cable was penetration. The mechanical strength of completed in less than 20 months. BU Cables Telephone Telefax E-mail ABB Power Technologies AB +46 455 556 00 +46 455 556 55 [email protected] SEHVC M-033E.