Europe News

Latest news and developments from Europe

• Germany’s Borkum Riffgrund 1 OSW farm provides system balancing power

  May 19, 2022
  Germany’s 312 MW Borkum Riffgrund 1 offshore wind (OSW) farm located in Germany’s exclusive economic zone in the North Sea, is providing grid stabilisation power for the German power grid, making it the country’s first offshore wind farm taking up this task.

• Four EU countries to build 150 GW offshore capacity in North Sea by 2050

  May 19, 2022
  Four European Union (EU) countries, including Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark, have signed a EUR135 billion pact to develop 65 GW by 2030 and at least 150 GW of offshore capacity by 2050, more than 10 times their existing capacity.

• Austrian TSO APG to invest EUR150 million in Ernsthofen substation

  May 19, 2022
  APG AG (Austrian Power Grid AG), the transmission system operator (TSO) of Austria, has invested EUR150 million in the modernisation of the 220 kV Ernsthofen substation in Lower Austria.

• Russia’s Rosseti upgrades 500 kV Zarya substation

  May 19, 2022
  Russia’s state-owned power transmission company, Rosseti FGC UES, has completed the upgradation work for the 500 kV Zarya ultra-high voltage substation in the Novosibirsk region.

• Proserv to deliver CMS for Equinor’s Hywind Scotland floating OSW project

  May 18, 2022
  The UK-based controls technology specialist Proserv would provide its cable monitoring system (CMS) – ECG, to Equinor's 30 MW Hywind Scotland floating offshore wind (OSW) farm located off the coast of Peterhead, Aberdeenshire in north-east Scotland.

• ACER to decide on Swedish Svk derogation request

  May 18, 2022
  The EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) has received a request from the Swedish transmission system operator (TSO), Svenska kraftnät (SvK), for a derogation from the minimum capacity (70 per cent requirement) available for cross-zonal commerce for multiple electricity interconnections for 2022.

• German TSO Amprion presents results of ‘System Vision 2050’ project

  May 17, 2022
  Dortmund-based Amprion GmbH, one of the four transmission system operators (TSOs) for electricity in Germany, has presented the results of its research project "System Vision 2050", together with 14 partners from business, politics and society, including Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH), Entelios and STEAG GmbH.

• Finland’s Fingrid awards EUR16 million transmission contract to Enersense

  May 17, 2022
  Finnish electricity transmission system operator (TSO), Fingrid, has awarded Enersense PN, a subsidiary of Finnish zero-emission energy solutions provider Enersense International, a contract for the Pyhänselkä–Herva section of the Aurora Line.

• Rambøll to modernise 100 transformers for Danish Energinet

  May 16, 2022
  Danish engineering consultancy company Rambøll has signed a framework agreement with the Danish transmission system operator (TSO), Energinet, for the modernisation of the latter’s 100 transformers in Denmark.

• Norway plans for 30 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2040

  May 16, 2022
  The Norwegian government has unveiled an offshore wind (OSW) plan that aims for 30 GW of capacity by 2040.

• Finland’s Fingrid to construct new 400/110 kV substation in Hepokorpi district

  May 16, 2022
  Finland’s transmission system operator (TSO), Fingrid, is planning to construct a new 400/110 kV substation for the main grid in the Hepokorpi district of Espoo.

• SSEN Transmission publishes NoSFES 2022

  May 13, 2022
  The UK’s SSE Networks Transmission (SSEN Transmission), which is the transmission business of Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE), has released its 2022 North of Scotland Future Energy Scenarios (NoSFES) study, which details the company's latest research of a variety of potential power generation and demand scenarios.

• Germany’s Südkabel bags contract for Greenlink [free access]

  May 13, 2022
  German cable manufacturer Südkabel GmbH has secured a contract from Japanese technology provider, Sumitomo Electric, to supply, install and commission approximately 63 km of 320 kV high-voltage direct current (HVDC) onshore cabling for the Greenlink project, the interconnector between Ireland and the UK.

• TenneT awards onshore cable connection contract for Dutch HollandseKust (West Beta)

  May 13, 2022
  Dutch-German transmission system operator (TSO) TenneT has awarded an onshore cable connection contract to contractor consortium NRG (Denys, Alsema and Van Vulpen) for the 700 MW HollandseKust (West Beta) offshore wind project.

• Denmark’s DEA to seek technical advisor for North Sea Energy Island

  May 13, 2022
  The Danish Energy Agency (DEA) plans to release a tender in end-May 2022, for a technical advisor to assist with the planned artificial energy island in the Danish North Sea off the western coast of Jutland.

• Ukraine’s Ukrhydroenergo commences electricity exports to Moldova

  May 13, 2022
  Private joint stock company Ukrhydroenergo, managing the major part of hydro generation facilities in Ukraine, commenced commercial power exports to Moldova on May 12, 2022.

• EU-funded Ready4DC Project formally launched

  May 12, 2022
  The Ready4DC Project, supported by Horizon Europe, has been formally launched. Horizon Europe is the European Union’s (EU) key funding programme for research and innovation with a budget of EUR95.5 billion.

• British Xlinks partners with Octopus Energy for Morocco–UK HVDC link

  May 12, 2022
  British renewable energy supplier Octopus Energy has entered into a strategic and financial partnership with British company Xlinks for a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) link between Morocco and the UK, which will provide low-cost, clean power to over 7 million US homes by 2030.

• Danish NKT awards subcontracts for German HVDC projects

  May 12, 2022
  Danish cable company NKT has signed subcontracts to support the logistics and cable installation of two 2 GW, 525 kV high-voltage direct current (HVDC) power cable projects – the SuedLink corridor and SuedOstLink.

• GE completes SVC upgrade for two substations of Norway’s Statnett

  May 12, 2022
  General Electric (GE) has completed its static var compensator (SVC) upgrade project at Norwegian transmission system operator (TSO) Statnett's two existing 420 kV substations – Rod and Verdal. This upgrade has been the largest one that the TSO has ever taken up.