SwePol Link

The 600 MW 450 kV HVDC subsea interconnection between Sweden and Poland is owned by the Swedish national grid operator, Svenska Kraftnat, and PSE-Operator S.A., operator of the Polish national grid. The converter stations as well as the cables were a turnkey delivery by Hitachi Energy.

The link is a further step towards the integration of power systems in the countries of the Baltic region. It enables cross-border power exchanges in both directions to help meet the variable electricity demands in each country, and utilizes the overall power generation capacity of the region more efficiently.

The transmission is a monopolar design with a metallic current return (MCR) cable forming a closed current loop. Unlike previous installations depending on electrode stations to transmit current underground or under water, SwePol's two MCR cables together with the single HVDC cable provides a completely closed HVDC cable system.

Underground cable stretches 2 km from the Stärno HVDC station to Sweden's southern Baltic Sea coast, then crosses 240 km of sea bed before coming ashore in Poland near Ustka. Here it is underground for another 13 km until it reaches the Bruskowo Wielkie HVDC station in northern Poland.

To control, monitor and supervise the operation of the SwePol Link, an advanced MACH control system is installed at each station. Telecommunication between stations is operated through one dedicated, leased line and a back-up, dial-up channel. SwePol began commercial operations in August 2000.

Swepol link upgrade project will be done in 2024 and include complete HVDC control and protection equipment replacement.