“This is an important decision. It will ensure that people in the central part of Eastern Norway have a reliable power supply in the future. New subsea cables will provide greater reliability and less maintenance. Moreover, the cables are an important prerequisite for upgrading the power grid in the Greater Oslo area. The projects will also contribute to value creation by ensuring power trading with Sweden,” says Project Manager Martin Mauritzen.
The new inner Oslofjord project involves construction and operation of seven 420 kV subsea cables and two new cable terminals on each of the Solberg-Brenntangen and Filtvet-Brenntangen cable interconnectors between Hurum and Vestby municipalities. The interconnectors were built in 1975 and 1958, respectively.
The subsea cable route Solberg–Brenntangen is approximately 2.7 kilometres long, and Filtvet–Brenntangen about 1.8 kilometres. The deepest point along the subsea cable route is 220 metres. Both interconnectors will be constructed for 420 kilovolt (kV), whereas the subsea cable Filtvet–Brenntangen will operate at 300 kV until the voltage on the onshore power line has been upgraded to 420 kV.
The Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) has granted Statnett a licence for new subsea cables across inner Oslofjord. The project is now being considered by the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.