Europe News

Latest news and developments from Europe

• Danish TSO's investment plan gets ministerial approval [free access]

  August 31, 2020
  Danish Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities has approved the EUR3.8 billion investment plan of the country’s transmission system operator (TSO) Energinet.dk.

• Dutch HKZ Alpha jacket reaches North Sea

  August 27, 2020
  The jacket and foundation piles for the Hollandse Kust Zuid (HKZ) Alpha high voltage alternating current (HVAC) offshore substation have arrived in the North Sea, having travelled from the United Arab Emirates.

• Estonian TSO Elering assures smooth synchronisation plans [free access]

  August 27, 2020
  Elering, the Estonian Transmission System Operator (TSO), recently confirmed that its plans towards the synchronisation of Baltic and European electric utilities are continuing smoothly.

• South African Etion Crete to supply major utility for UK wind farm

  August 26, 2020
  Etion Create, a South Africa-based electronics manufacturing company, has bagged a contract to supply equipment for the Sofia offshore wind farm project in the UK.

• JDR to work on Scottish Moray East array cables

  August 25, 2020
  The UK's cable manufacturer JDR Cable Systems Limited has won a contract from Boskalis, a Netherlands-based contractor, for the termination and testing of 100 array cables and two offshore substation interconnector cables for the Moray East offshore wind farm project in Moray Firth, Scotland.

• France suspends EUR1.1 billion subsea transmission project to UK [free access]

  August 24, 2020
  The French energy regulator, Commission de Régulation de l’Énergie (CRE), has suspended the development of the proposed Aquind Interconnector project (UK–France) in light of the recent uncertainties regarding the UK’s exit from the EU (European Union), popularly termed as Brexit.

• UK’s Hornsea Two cable pulled onshore

  August 24, 2020
  Ørsted has connected the offshore cable at Lincolnshire’s Horseshoe Point Beach in England, for its latest and largest 1.4 GW Hornsea Two offshore wind farm project in the North Sea.

• DEME Offshore secures Dogger Bank cable job in UK [free access]

  August 20, 2020
  The local marine engineering company DEME Group has secured a contract to install array cables for the two Dogger Bank Creyke Beck A and B offshore wind farm projects, off the east coast of Yorkshire in the North Sea, England.

• Ukrenergo extends deadline for EIB-funded 330 kV project in Ukraine

  August 20, 2020
  Ukraine’s vertically-integrated power utility Ukrenergo has extended the deadline for international bids from August 27, 2020 to September 22, 2020 for a tender funded by the European Investment Bank (EIB).

• UK’s Ofgem evaluates grid-balancing solutions

  August 19, 2020
  The British energy regulator, Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem), has demanded an investigation into the National Grid's balancing system, after the sudden hike in the managing costs to EUR782 million during the COVID-19 lockdown.

• ACER announces four decisions concerning the Nordic electricity market

  August 17, 2020
  The European Union (EU) Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) has announced four decisions in compliance with the EU regulation on ‘Guideline on Electricity Balancing’ aimed at creating a single Nordic balancing capacity market for the procurement and exchange of automatic frequency restoration reserves (aFRR).

• German 50Hertz endorses new high-temperature conductor cables

  August 17, 2020
  The German transmission system operator (TSO) 50Hertz is now using high-temperature conductor cables on the first section of an imperative 380 kV overhead line (OHL) between Saxony and Thuringia through the southern part of the state of Saxony-Anhalt, thus increasing the transmission capacity between the major cities of Leipzig and Erfurt by around 40%. This change is in accordance with both German and European plans for the climate-friendly conversion of the region’s power sector.

• Elering to initiate works for second underwater cable to Muhu

  August 12, 2020
  The Estonian transmission system operator (TSO), Elering AS plans to initiate works for the installation of a second 110 kV undersea cable between the mainland and the island of Muhu in the third week of August 2020 for an estimated investment of EUR9 million.

• Danish Energinet.dk begins Viking Link onshore construction

  August 11, 2020
  The Danish transmission system operator (TSO) Energinet.dk has commenced the construction of the onshore converter station for the EUR2 billion Viking Link project—a high voltage direct current (HVDC) link between the UK and Denmark.

• TenneT awards contracts for BorWin5 offshore grid connection system

  August 11, 2020
  The Dutch-German transmission system operator (TSO) TenneT has awarded contracts for the 900 MW BorWin5 offshore grid connection system to a consortium of German equipment supplier Siemens and Spanish engineering, construction and procurement (EPC) major Dragados Offshore, and also to Danish cable group NKT.

• Fugro assists Nexans in setting up world’s longest subsea interconnector

  August 11, 2020
  The Netherlands-based offshore and onshore geotechnical and survey services company, Fugro, has completed a contract for the French cabling solution provider Nexans, for providing remotely operated vehicle (ROV) survey and monitoring support services to lay the North Sea Link cable.

• Latvian ATS proposes changes to transmission tariffs [free access]

  August 11, 2020
  The Latvian transmission system operator (TSO), Augstsprieguma tīkls AS (AST), is planning to reduce the transmission tariffs and subsequently increase the transmission capacity maintenance fee.

• Amprion, Smart Wires to examine more flexible power flow control on German grid

  August 5, 2020
  The aforementioned project includes three phases and will allow the TSO to use its network more efficiently and reduce the need for redispatch.

• SSEN selects major contractors for 600 MW link to Scottish mainland [free access]

  August 4, 2020
  SSE Networks Transmission (SSEN Transmission)—the transmission business of the Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) company—has selected Hitachi ABB Power Grids and Siemens/BAM (joint venture led by Siemens and BAM Nutall) as the main contractors for the 600 MW subsea link between the Scottish mainland and the Shetland Islands.

• TenneT to invest EUR4-5 billion per year for European energy transition

  August 3, 2020
  The Dutch-German transmission system operator (TSO) TenneT plans to increase its investments to EUR4-5 billion per year within the next few years, to facilitate renewable energy connections and to develop a borderless European electricity market.