“NordBalt will be the third-longest submarine link in the world. We seek to ensure uninterrupted supply of electricity via this link, hence each meter of the cable manufactured shall comply with the top quality requirements,” Thomas Worzyk, chief engineer for NordBalt cable project at ABB, said in a press release.
Virgilijus Poderys, CEO of Lithuania’s electricity transmission system operator Litgrid, said that the project was being implemented as scheduled and the link should be put in operation just as scheduled, i.e. in December 2015.
ABB will manufacture 920 kilometers of marine cabling – enough for the laying of two parallel cables of the 450-kilometers long link and 20 kilometers of spare cabling. Apart high-voltage DC submarine and underground cables, the link will also include converter stations in Klaipėda and Nybro, Sweden.
The European Union (EU) has extended 175 million euros for the NordBalt project worth 520 million euros. Some 131 million euros in the EU funds would be allocated for the construction of the link in the Baltic Sea. Lithuania and Sweden will have to invest some 195 million euros each into the project.
