Aurora Line connects Swedish and Finnish power systems
“Together we are now making Sweden, Finland and the EU a little safer, a little greener and more competitive,” said Svenska kraftnät director general Lotta Medelius-Bredhe. Image courtesy Svenska kraftnät.
The Swedish and Finnish parts of the Aurora Line interconnection have connected in Risudden in Norrbotten, Sweden.
Together with Finland’s transmission grid operator Fingrid, Swedish TSO Svenska kraftnät has been building the 380km, 400kV AC power line from Messaure in northern Sweden to Pyhänselkä outside Oulu in Finland.
The project, classified as a project of common interest, is part of the green industrial transition in the north and is expected to be fully operational in December, 2025.
According to Svenska kraftnät in a release, the line strengthens ties between Sweden and Finland, making it possible to increase power output in the Luleå/Boden region.
Commenting in a release was Ida Wallentin, lead project manager for Aurora Line at Svenska kraftnät: “This is a big day for a project that is important for both Sweden and Finland.
“I am proud that we are meeting the tough schedule and we are doing so thanks to the work and commitment that our employees put in.”
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Interconnecting capacity
In 2016, Fingrid and Svenska kraftnät completed a study on cross-border capacity development needs, finding that electricity transmission connections between Finland and Sweden are inadequate and bottleneck situations are very likely in the future, necessitating a new transmission connection.
Various options for increasing transmission capacity were examined, and a new alternating current connection between northern Finland and northern Sweden appeared to be the most feasible both technically and in terms of socio-economic benefit.
According to Fingrid, cross-border capacity between the two countries is often inadequate, resulting in the electricity market not functioning efficiently and electricity prices diverging. This increases the price of electricity.
On 23 August 2017, Fingrid and Svenska kraftnät signed an agreement for the new connection, which will increase the capacity for electricity trade between the two countries; by 900MW from Finland to Sweden and 800MW from Sweden to Finland.
The Line will also improve security of supply and enable integration of renewable energy sources in Nordics and Baltic Sea area.
