Skagerrak 4

Overview

Skagerrak 4 is a submarine cable system connecting Denmark and Norway across the Skagerrak strait. Spanning 137 kilometres, it serves as a direct link between these two neighbouring Scandinavian countries. The cable is owned and operated by Statnett, the Norwegian transmission system operator responsible for the country's high-voltage power grid.

Route and Landings

In Denmark, the cable lands at Tjele. In Norway, it comes ashore at Kristiansand. These two landing points mark the endpoints of the 137-kilometre connection across the strait separating the Jutland Peninsula from the Norwegian coastline.

Ownership and Operators

Skagerrak 4 is solely owned by Statnett, the Norwegian state-owned enterprise that manages the national electricity transmission system. Statnett operates interconnector infrastructure linking Norway with neighbouring countries to facilitate cross-border electricity exchange.

Status and Timeline

Skagerrak 4 entered service in 2014 and has been operational for approximately 12 years. It continues to serve the Denmark–Norway corridor as an active cable system.

Regional Context

The Denmark–Norway corridor hosts a range of submarine cable systems of varying lengths and purposes. At 137 kilometres, Skagerrak 4 is a relatively short system by the standards of cables touching these two countries, sitting longer than approximately 39 percent of the other cables in this shared corridor. Among regional peers, Havfrue/AEC-2, which also connects Denmark and Norway, operates at a vastly greater scale at 7,650 kilometres, while cables such as N0r5ke Viking, N0r5ke Viking 2, and Arctic Way serve the Norwegian coastline over intermediate distances. Skagerrak 4 is therefore one of the more compact systems in the region, focused tightly on the short crossing between the two countries.

Performance measurements recorded over the past 60 days, drawn from 69 ping tests, show an average round-trip latency of 16.6 milliseconds, with a best recorded result of 12.7 milliseconds. These figures reflect the relatively short physical distance between the two landing points.

Strategic Role

Skagerrak 4 provides a direct submarine connection between Tjele in Denmark and Kristiansand in Norway. As a Statnett-owned asset, it supports electricity transmission between the two countries across a well-established corridor. The cable's short length and low measured latency reflect the compact geographic span of this particular crossing, complementing the broader set of submarine infrastructure that connects the Danish and Norwegian networks.