The Viking Link interconnector from National Grid PLC - 1.4 GW cable reshapes UK power flows

Reviewed: ad hoc news B2B & Pro desk. Edited and checked on 2026-06-27, 18:05. Details in the imprint.

The Viking Link interconnector starts for visitors as a quiet hum behind steel fences and converter halls on the Lincolnshire coast, where National Grid engineers watch giant transformers feed a 765 km subsea cable heading for Denmark. You smell sea air, see thick HVDC cables vanish into the ground, and feel the scale of a project that aims to move enough clean power for more than a million UK homes.

What Viking Link actually is

Viking Link is a high-voltage direct current interconnector between the UK and Denmark, jointly developed by National Grid and Denmark’s Energinet, with a nominal capacity of about 1.4 GW at ±525 kV DC.Official project overview At the UK end sits the Bicker Fen converter station in Lincolnshire; at the Danish side the site near Revsing links into Energinet’s grid.National Grid interconnector page

The link runs roughly 623 km offshore under the North Sea and about 142 km on land including UK and Danish onshore sections, making it one of the longest HVDC subsea cables currently in operation.Energinet project description Converter stations at each end switch power between alternating current grids and the direct current in the cable, allowing controllable flows in both directions.

How it feels at the converter station

Walking along the Bicker Fen site, rows of grey valve halls and steel lattice structures rise behind safety railings. You hear the low, steady buzz of transformers and the occasional clack of switchgear, but the atmosphere is surprisingly tidy and quiet for a piece of infrastructure that can send over a gigawatt of power out under the sea.

Inside the control room, operators sit before large screens showing live power flows between Great Britain and Denmark as coloured lines and sharp numeric readouts. A fingertip adjustment on a touchscreen can ramp flows up or down within minutes, giving the grid team a very tactile sense of steering electricity like traffic along a digital motorway.

Why National Grid built it

National Grid and Energinet began planning Viking Link to increase security of supply, improve competition in wholesale power markets and support the integration of renewable energy sources on both sides of the North Sea.Project benefits overview When Danish wind output is high and UK demand is strong, the cable can carry surplus wind power into Britain; at other times, UK generation can support Denmark.

At full 1.4 GW, Viking Link can transfer the equivalent of around 1.4 million typical UK homes’ annual peak demand, though the exact figure depends on usage profiles and load factors.National Grid capacity details This extra capacity gives system operators more headroom during winter peaks and reduces reliance on domestic thermal plants when cross-border prices favour imports.

Cables, contractors and build cost

The subsea HVDC cables and onshore sections for Viking Link were supplied and installed primarily by Prysmian Group, using mass-impregnated paper-insulated cable technology suited to long deepwater runs.Prysmian project profile Converter stations at Bicker Fen and Revsing use modular multilevel converters and large-scale transformers from major OEMs to handle the ±525 kV DC conversion.

National Grid and Energinet have previously cited a project cost in the broad multi-billion-pound and multi-billion-kroner range, reflecting complex marine installation, land acquisition and station construction. Exact capital figures are guided by the regulated investment frameworks in the UK and Denmark rather than a simple off-the-shelf price tag, and are spread across several years of phased spend.

Grid impact and trading dynamics

Once fully integrated into operational routines, Viking Link becomes part of the UK’s wider portfolio of interconnectors such as BritNed, IFA, IFA2, Nemo Link, NSL and others managed or jointly owned by National Grid. Each interconnector acts like a controllable valve between markets, with Viking Link focusing on the GB-DK corridor and Nord Pool trading arrangements.

Traders use the cable’s capacity rights to arbitrage price differences between UK and Danish or wider Nordic markets in daily auctions and intraday sessions. For grid operators, the interconnector supports frequency response and reserve services, because flows can be ramped relatively quickly compared with firing up a conventional plant, though they still follow strict operating envelopes and system security rules.

Voices behind the project

National Grid chief executive John Pettigrew has repeatedly highlighted interconnectors as a core part of the company’s strategy to connect the UK to neighbouring energy markets and unlock renewable potential. In earlier statements around Viking Link, he framed the project as a way to help decarbonise the power system while keeping reliability high.

On the Danish side, Energinet project director Carsten Jensen has talked about Viking Link as a quiet but effective backbone that lets Danish offshore wind find new demand when domestic consumption is saturated. For both leaders, the cable is less about headline-grabbing moments and more about day-in, day-out dependable flows that back climate and security-of-supply goals.

Where it shines, where it annoys

From a system perspective, Viking Link offers a convincing combination of capacity and controllability. Operators appreciate the clean, sharp control interfaces and the robust HVDC technology, which has matured over decades and now feels almost routine when steering flows. The long onshore cable routes, however, demanded extensive planning permissions and consultations, which occasionally annoyed local residents concerned about land impacts and visual footprint.

The cable also introduces new operational complexities in coordinating outages and maintenance between two regulators, two TSOs and multiple markets. System planners must continually model how Viking Link interacts with other interconnectors and domestic generation under stress scenarios, from low wind to generation faults, which adds to the analytical workload even as it expands options.

Market context and National Grid shares

Viking Link slots into National Grid’s broader strategy of investing heavily in electricity transmission assets, including interconnectors, onshore reinforcement and offshore network plans, under the UK’s RIIO regulatory framework. These assets contribute to the company’s regulated asset base, which in turn influences allowed revenues and long-term cash flows for the group.

National Grid PLC shares (ISIN GB00BDR05C01) trade primarily on the London Stock Exchange in pounds sterling, with the share price reflecting investor expectations about future capital investment, regulatory decisions, interest rates and demand for large-scale infrastructure projects such as Viking Link.

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