Flex›Baltic Cable

Baltic Cable

Baltic Cable is an HVDC (high-voltage direct current) submarine power cable connecting Sweden and Germany across the Baltic Sea. It is one of Sweden’s cross-border interconnectors that enable electricity trading between the Nordic and Continental European synchronous areas.

Key facts

  • Route: Trelleborg (Sweden, SE4) – Lübeck (Germany)
  • Capacity: 600 MW
  • Technology: HVDC, submarine cable
  • Commissioned: 1994
  • Operator: Baltic Cable AB

Relevance to the wiki

Baltic Cable is relevant to Flexibility and Congestion Management in several ways:

  • Cross-border flexibility — enables import/export between the Nordic and Continental markets, providing spatial flexibility across synchronous areas
  • SE4 pricing — as a connection from the southernmost Swedish bidding area (SE4, which has a structural deficit), it influences local electricity prices and the value of southern Swedish flexibility
  • Flow-Based Capacity Calculation — cross-border capacity on Baltic Cable (and other interconnectors) is now determined by the flow-based method adopted in the Nordics in October 2024
  • 70% rule — under Regulation Art. 16(8), Svenska kraftnät must make at least 70% of available cross-zonal capacity on interconnectors like Baltic Cable available for trade

CCR Hansa redispatching cost rule

Under the CCR Hansa RCCS Methodology (CACM Regulation Art. 74), Baltic Cable AB bears 100% of redispatching and countertrading costs for the SE4–DE/LU bidding-zone border. (Source - CCR Hansa RCCS Methodology and Ei Approval (2024))

This is unique within CCR Hansa: every other interconnector in the region uses 50%/50% cost sharing between TSOs (or thirds for the DK2–DE/LU Kontek cable). The 100% rule means that when redispatching or countertrading is needed to relieve congestion on the Sweden–Germany link, Baltic Cable AB bears the full cost — with no sharing between Svenska kraftnät or the German TSOs. The rationale is not stated in the methodology text but likely reflects Baltic Cable AB’s unique status as a privately owned interconnector, unlike the public TSO-operated cables elsewhere in the region.

The rule applies specifically to HVDC technical limits, fault/failure situations, and cases where operational security analysis identifies congestion on the Baltic Cable interconnector. For congestion arising in a TSO’s own control area — which is the most common case — the general CCR Hansa principle applies: the TSO in whose control area the physical congestion took place bears the cost.

Data gaps

  • Current utilization and flow patterns on Baltic Cable
  • Other Swedish HVDC interconnectors (Konti-Skan, SwePol, NordBalt, Fenno-Skan) — entity pages not yet created
  • Planned new interconnectors from the Svk Network Development Plan