Commercial operations have been initiated for the world’s longest land and subsea interconnector, transmitting wind turbine-generated electricity from Denmark to the U.K. Boasting a capacity of 1.4 GW, the 475 mile Viking Link electricity interconnector joins the Bicker Fen substation in Lincolnshire with the Revsing substation in southern Jutland, Denmark.

The $2 billion joint venture between the U.K.’s National Grid and Danish national transmission system operator Energinet is expected to deliver enough electricity for up to 2.5 million homes in the U.K., bringing over $637 million of cumulative savings for consumers over the next decade through the import of cheaper power from Denmark.

Viking Link cable pulled ashore on the west coast of Jutland. Source: Energinet

The high-voltage DC cable supplied by Prysmian and NKT is made from copper, steel, paper and plastic and is buried on the seabed. In its first year of operation, Viking Link is expected to save approximately 600,000 tons of carbon emissions — the equivalent to taking roughly 280,000 cars off the road. The system will initially operate at a capacity of 800 MW before ramping up over time to 1.4 GW.

National Grid is now in the process of planning LionLink, a new 1.8 GW interconnector to be constructed jointly with Dutch transmission system operator TenneT. This system intended to import power to the U.K. from the Netherlands will come online in the early 2030s.