ABB

ABB was awarded a contract worth around $900 million in March 2015 by the NordLink consortium of Statnett, TenneT and KfW to provide the HVDC transmission system for the 1,400 MW NordLink interconnector between Norway and Germany. The core scope covered the design, engineering, supply and commissioning of two ±525 kV, 1,400 MW HVDC Light (VSC) converter stations at Tonstad in southern Norway and Wilster in northern Germany. The original contract also included the German-sector cable system, but in September 2016 ABB divested its entire high-voltage cable business to NKT Cables for €836 million. The Karlskrona manufacturing facility, cable-laying vessel, engineering capabilities and personnel transferred to NKT, which subsequently manufactured and installed the German sector cables as turnkey supplier. ABB (later Hitachi ABB Power Grids, then Hitachi Energy) retained responsibility for the converter stations and a five-year service agreement, delivering the HVDC Light technology that underpins reliable bidirectional power exchange between Norwegian hydropower and German wind and solar generation.