Power cables to connect Switzerland and Italy

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Dec 21, 2006

Nexans has signed a Eur 5 million contract with Azienda Elettrica Ticinese for an interconnection project between Switzerland and Italy.

Nexans has signed a Eur 5 million contract with Azienda Elettrica Ticinese (AET), the power company for the Ticino canton in Switzerland, for an interconnection project between Switzerland and Italy.

This new 400MW line, of an unprecedented scale in Switzerland, could become the first underground merchant line project completed in Europe.

"The power outage experienced throughout Northern Europe in early November demonstrated once again the ever-increasing needs for cross-border power infrastructure networks".

"Upgrading older power plants or building new production facilities is a solution to meet demand peaks, but a costly one".

"Securing power transmission and distribution is an other option for Europe's energy of tomorrow".

"This is why Nexans is proud to implement this new project in Europe and is determined to further its commitment to power companies", said Yvon Raak, Nexans' Executive Vice President Europe Area.

As part of this project, Nexans will provide a comprehensive turnkey solution, including 27km of high voltage (380kV) XLPE (cross-linked polyethylene) power cables.

The 9km link between the towns of Mendrisio in Switzerland and Cagno in Italy will be divided into 15 sections.

For this project, Nexans will also supply 14 junction chambers, with three premoulded joints each, as well as all necessary connecting and grounding components.

Since late 2005, Nexans has been supporting AET during all preliminary stages, including installation mode optimisation, civil engineering consulting, thermal and mechanical calculations, and route validation.

The interconnection, which was approved by the Swiss Federal Council in June 2004, is included in Switzerland's power transmission master plan.

This project is undertaken in partnership with Italy's railway company Ferrovie Nord Milano (FNM), as most of the section installed in Italy will run along a former railway track owned by FNM.

Among about 50 interconnections currently considered between France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and Italy, the Switzerland-Italy link could become the first underground merchant line project actually started in Europe.

Currently, the homologation process to make this high voltage link a merchant line is still continuing on both sides of the border.

Merchant lines are deregulated high voltage lines used to complement power transmission networks between neighbouring countries.

Unlike traditional high voltage line operators, merchant line operators are not required to provide power companies with nondiscriminatory access to the network.

Currently, the merchant lines in operation in Scandinavia are submarine lines.

However, according to analysts, significant amounts will be invested in underground merchant lines during the forthcoming years, after full liberalisation of the energy market in the European Union and Switzerland.

The high voltage cables will be manufactured by Nexans' Cortaillod plant in Switzerland.

All the accessories will be manufactured in Switzerland too, in Nexans' Cossonay plant.

The first cables are scheduled to be installed in February 2007, and the line will enter operation by the end of 2007.