The green transition and the general electrification of society are placing greater demands on the electricity grid.
By 2030, electricity consumption will have doubled, and by 2050, Danes will use four times as much electricity as today. Energinet is aware of this, and is therefore working on expansions and upgrades in several places in the country.
One of the electricity connections that is the first to undergo a thorough renovation is the electricity connection between Aabenraa and Aarhus. The current connection has been in use since the 1970s, but now Energinet's board has approved a new project that will upgrade the connection by 2034. Energinet states this in a press release.
The approximately 200 km long 400 kV connection will be a new electricity highway that can supply consumers and companies from Aarhus to Aabenraa. At the same time, it can move large amounts of green electricity over long distances.
- It is necessary to build a new and powerful connection instead of renovating the existing one, which will be overloaded in just a few years. At the same time as we create a completely new and stronger electricity connection, we can at the same time create a new and better structure for the electricity grid in the Aarhus area and replace a lot of the 150 kV overhead lines with cables in the ground, says Søren Damsgaard Mikkelsen, main project manager at Energinet.
Less powerful cables are also replaced
On several parts of the existing section between Aarhus and Aabenraa, one or two 150 kV systems hang on the same mast as the 400 kV connection. They, along with several other existing 150 kV connections that have also reached the end of their service life, will be replaced with buried cables.
Several of Energinet's high-voltage substations in the area will be renovated or moved in this connection to make room for the new connections.
- The majority of the electricity grid in Aarhus dates from the 1960s and 1970s and is facing a major renovation. We are therefore taking the opportunity to restructure it and create a new structure that will equip the grid for the future supply of the entire Aarhus area with green energy and a sharply increasing electricity consumption, says Søren Damsgaard Mikkelsen.
In total, Energinet expects that around 240 km of buried 150 kV connections will be built.
Uses new environmental assessment process
The project between Aarhus and Aabenraa has been selected as one of three projects that will use the new environmental assessment process, which is the result of an agreement reached in the Danish Parliament before Christmas.
This agreement, which is the result of new EU legislation to promote the green transition, includes the use of so-called acceleration areas - a new process that can cut years off the often lengthy environmental assessment process.
In this specific case, Energinet expects to be able to reduce the time it takes to obtain an environmental permit for the project by two years.
- We must of course meet the requirements and objectives of environmental and nature protection legislation, but we are very pleased that we will be able to have the opportunity for a faster and more flexible process. The new rules mean that we can ensure that the electricity grid is ready for the major changes that lie ahead and maintain a high pace of the green transition, says Søren Damsgaard Mikkelsen.
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