Skagerrak

The Skagerrak (Danish: [ˈsɡ̊æɪ̯ˀɐʁaɡ̊]; Norwegian: [ˈskɑːɡərɑk]; Swedish: [ˈskɑːɡərak]) is a strait running between the southeast coast of Norway, the southwest coast of Sweden, and the Jutland peninsula of Denmark, connecting the North Sea and the Kattegat sea area, which leads to the Baltic Sea.

Oslo is the only large city in the Skagerrak region.

Skagerrak contain some of the busiest shipping routes in the world, with vessels from every corner of the globe. It also supports an intensive fishing industry. The ecosystem is strained and negatively affected by direct human activities.

Name

The meaning of Skagerrak is most likely the Skagen Channel/Straight. Skagen is a town near the northern cape of Denmark (The Skaw). Rak means 'straight waterway' (compare the Damrak in Amsterdam); it is cognate with 'reach'. The ultimate source of this syllable is the Proto-Indo-European root *reg-, 'straight'. Rak means 'straight' as in 'straight ahead' in both modern Norwegian and Swedish. "Råk" in modern Norwegian refers to a channel or opening of water in an otherwise ice covered body of water. There is no evidence to suggest a connection with the modern Danish word rak (meaning rabble or riff-raff). [See Kattegat for its etymology, in which gat means gate or hole.]

Skagerrak (power transmission system)

Skagerrak is the name of a 1,700 MW high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission facility between Tjele (Denmark) and Kristiansand (Norway). It is owned and operated by Statnett in Norway, and Energinet.dk in Denmark. The lines connect the hydroelectric-based Norwegian grid and the wind and thermal power-based Danish grid. In operation it enables more renewable energy in the energy mix, and more efficient use of electricity.

Technical features

The 240-kilometre (150 mi) Skagerrak 1–3 scheme consists of a 113-kilometre (70 mi) overhead line and a 127-kilometre (79 mi) underwater cable. It has a capacity of 1,050 MegaWatts (MW). Both land parts in Denmark and in Norway uses overhead lines from the cable landing point to the converter stations. The overhead lines in Denmark are set to be renovated in 2016 for increased lifespan. The towers were originally constructed for four poles, but were rebuilt for three conductors (three poles) when Skagerrak 3 was established. Near Aggersund HVDC Skagerrak crossed Aggersund strait overhead on 70-metre-tall (230 ft) towers with a 470-metre-long (1,540 ft) span, but were later converted to underground cables. The pylons of this span were the tallest electricity pylons of an HVDC line in Europe.