It is expensive to build the world’s longest submersion tunnel. In 2022, Femern A/S incurred expenses for DKK 6,388,800,000, which corresponds to just under DKK 17.5 million per day. Despite the high level of expenses, Femern A/S came out of 2022 with a profit of just over DKK 9.1 billion. This is shown in the annual report from Femern A/S, which was published this week.
The tunnel factory ready for start-up
According to the management report, the project is progressing according to plan, and it is still expected that the tunnel will be ready for use in 2029. The tunnel factory, where a total of 89 tunnel elements are to be cast, is little by little ready to start manufacturing the first segments in the three production halls.
Tunnel portal and working port in Puttgarden
On the German side, there is also good progress in the work. You can now see the contours of the tunnel portal in Puttgarden, and the working port on the German side is also about to be ready for use.
Excavation delayed
By the end of 2022, around 75 percent of the tunnel trench had been excavated. The excavation work has been delayed, among other things, due to conditions in the German authority approval. Femern A/S has therefore entered into supplementary agreements with the contractor consortium FBC in order to ensure the necessary progress. The tunnel trench is not expected to be fully excavated until 2024, so that FLC can start the subsequent activities in connection with the immersion of barrel elements.
The technical work is started
Femern A/S expects the Spanish SICE-Cobra consortium, Fehmarn Technical Contractors, to start work on the technical installations for the tunnel after the summer holidays. Elecnor, which won the contract to build the large transformer station that will supply the tunnel with power, is also expected to start work later this year.
The last major tender, the so-called TTC contract for railway facilities and running current in the tunnel, must also be completed in 2023.
