The new Viking Link subsea power cable linking Denmark with Britain will operate at a reduced capacity of 800 megawatts (MW) when it opens due to local grid constraints in Denmark, Danish grid operator Energinet said on Friday.

Viking Link is jointly owned and operated by National Grid and Energinet and will run at a length of around 765 kilometres, connecting Lincolnshire on England's east coast and southern Jutland in western Denmark.

"The full capacity of 1,400 MW cannot be offered to the electricity market from the start, because the West Jutland high-voltage grid has not yet been developed sufficiently," Energinet said in a statement.

Trial commissioning operations are still expected to start on Dec. 29, it added.

"The existing West Jutland electricity grid is simply not strong enough for all the power that, for example, Danish electricity producers want to send through Viking Link and sell in England, to reach the new connection," said Klaus Winther, director of system responsibility at Energinet.

Releasing 800 MW to the electricity market is already pushing the existing electricity grid in West Jutland close to its limits, he added.

Operating Viking Link at full capacity risked overloading the local Danish grid, Energinet said, adding this was due to delays of reinforcing an onshore power connection to Germany.

The first part of the so-called West Coast connection to Germany is not scheduled to start operations until the first quarter of 2025, it said. (Reporting by Nora Buli, editing by Terje Solsvik)