Energinet has completed a major expansion of the electricity grid on Lolland, where many solar and wind power installations produce renewable energy.
The project consists of three new high-voltage substations and around 30 kilometres of new 132 kV underground cables. The expansion will increase capacity in the electricity grid, so that more power from the area can be transmitted to consumers. At the same time, the grid is to be prepared for rising electricity consumption in the area, including from the Fehmarn Belt link.
The three new substations are located near the Fehmarn Belt link, at Rødby and at Gloslunde south-east of Nakskov. The substations have been commissioned, and so have the cable sections between them and an existing substation near Nakskov.
- With the expansion on Lolland, we have created more space in the electricity grid so that green electricity can reach consumers. We are now ready to transport more renewable energy - also when new major electricity consumers such as the Fehmarn link are connected, says Nina Høegh Jensen, chief executive of Energinet Electricity Transmission.
Many delays
The commissioning on Lolland has been delayed by around one year. This places the project within a broader pattern of delayed electricity grid projects at Energinet, which in April received sharp criticism from the National Audit Office of Denmark and the Public Accounts Committee over its management of the expansion of the electricity grid.
According to the National Audit Office, around 70 per cent of Energinet’s electricity projects are delayed, and the delays average just under 2.5 years. Overall, the National Audit Office assessed Energinet’s management of the expansion as "highly unsatisfactory".
On Lolland, the delay is due in part to the fact that Energinet was unable to reach voluntary agreements with around half of the landowners who were to provide land for the cables. Energinet therefore proceeded with expropriation cases, but has since reached settlements with all affected landowners.
The cable laying began in 2025, but technical challenges meant that the work could not be completed in the same year as planned. When winter set in, around seven kilometres of power cables were still missing between the new Gloslunde station and Vestlolland station near Nakskov.
- We had to remain idle over the winter. On the other hand, things moved quickly once we were able to start digging in mid-March. In just one month, our contractors laid the last cables in the ground. We carried out high-voltage testing, and this week we went into operation and have now completed the whole project, says Carsten Stenløkke Højbjerg, project manager at Energinet.
Energinet expects over the coming month to remove the last roadway plates from the areas where cables were laid in the spring. The land will then be restored before the areas are handed back to the landowners, who will receive compensation for crop and structural damage.
