- New construction of the 380-kV/110-kV line between St. Peter and Simbach am Inn locked in.
- One of the company’s largest projects with a record construction period of one year.
- As general contractor, EQOS Energie will make an important contribution to the effective power supply in Bavaria.
EQOS Energie, one of the leading service providers in the field of complex technical infrastructures, was awarded a large commission worth EUR 36 million by high-voltage network operator TenneT TSO GmbH in order to expand the regional lines of the power grid in the Bavarian-Austrian border region. For the infrastructure service provider, who has been operating for more than 100 years, this project is among the largest construction projects to be performed over the course of just one year. The project involves the new construction of about 13 kilometres of a 380-kV high-voltage line and the associated 110-kV supply lines between St. Peter on the Austrian border and the town of Simbach am Inn in the Rottal-Inn district. The two construction sections, which were publicly tendered, were both awarded to EQOS Energie’s Overhead Line Construction division, which will now be responsible as general contractor for the execution and detail planning as well as all construction activities of this large project. This also includes erecting 38 overhead line masts that are located on the line and the partial dismantling of power transmission lines presently running through the town centre of Simbach, which EQOS Energie will reroute and reinstall outside the town. Depending on the process of the plan approval procedure for the line section in question, the first construction measures will likely begin at the start of 2022.
The new construction work on this line represents part of the TenneT network expansion to optimise the regional power supply capacities and the new construction of power lines on the overall line from Altheim in Upper Austria to the Munich metropolitan area. In view of the growing urban power demand, being awarded this commission enables EQOS Energie to make an important contribution to safeguarding an effective power supply in Bavaria and to continue its success in the thriving Overhead Line Construction division in Southern Germany.
Thomas Reichel, managing director of the Overhead Line Construction business unit at EQOS Energie: “A highly effective energy and power supply is an important cornerstone of regional value creation. The size of this commission award and the handling of both construction sections within just one year involve a particularly high degree of responsibility to the region. Therefore, we are particularly happy about the trust shown us by our customer TenneT, who allows us to further increase and ensure supply in the Bavarian-Austrian border region with this showcase project.”
New construction increases network performance and creates synergies with communications networks
The new construction of the 380-kV overhead lines will begin in St. Peter on the Austrian border with the masts of type no. 9, the majority of which will be installed on the 13 kilometres to the Simbach substation as a quadruple 380-kV line. Overall, up to 60 overhead line specialists from EQOS Energie will be working on the construction of the new power supply network and performing all required steps in the construction. As a final result, the lines will render the power grid with significantly greater and fail-safe performance. “The wires we will be installing for the 380-kV overhead lines on that line section are state of the art in terms of power transmission capacity, which will provide a high level of protection from network outages,” said Gerald Adelsgruber, head of the profit centre in charge at EQOS Energie.
Apart from the 380-kV overhead lines, EQOS Energie is also responsible for the installation of fibre optic cables along the entire line. These lines can be integrated into the basic network infrastructure of telecommunications network operators, are required for communications networks, and also serve as lightning protection systems and thus as an additional safeguard of the 380-kV lines.
Tight construction schedule based on technical concept
The specially developed technical concept was key for winning the commission: “With our technical concept, which was specially developed as part of the tender procedure, we took into account the very tight construction schedule and created efficient interfaces for the execution of the construction work,” Adelsgruber said. “As sole contractor we will supply everything from a single source and can handle the entire commission with our well-coordinated team without friction losses. Our unique ability to do this is what ultimately netted us the commission.”
Source: TenneT TSO GmbH