- Young EQOS Energie team in Pfungstadt convinces new client
- Increased network capacity represents an important contribution to the region’s economic development
- Remodelling during ongoing operations and tight space conditions poses a challenge
In Offenbach, EQOS Energie is currently expanding a substation from the 1960s by an additional 40-MVA transformer. The project is being implemented by the Substations/HV Germany South profit center in Pfungstadt, which is part of the Energy Technology business unit. The young profit center has successfully mastered the challenging starting conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic and provides regionally tailored solutions in excellent quality. The decentralised structure that characterises EQOS Energie and ensures proximity to customers has once again proven its worth.
The client for the project in Hesse is the regional electricity grid operator Energienetze Offenbach GmbH. Due to grid- and system-related conditions, an existing 110-kV system is being expanded by a transformer cubicle for the new transformer 13. EQOS Energie’s services include the planning as well as the completion of the third transformer cubicle, ready to power on and for operation. The project will be completed in December 2022 after a period of 10 months.
The overall system must be right
Head of Profit Center Markus Klein: “The expansion also includes the installation of secondary technology. This includes control, protection and instrumentation, transformer regulation and visualisation, which will be implemented at the Automation profit center in Hamburg and put into operation by the Pfungstadt team.” According to Klein, it is particularly noteworthy that the remodelling takes place during ongoing operations. Additional challenges for the EQOS Energie team: Very limited space and the age of the facility. Klein: “The task is to combine the new protective technology of the expansion with devices of the latest generation and the old, existing technology into a functioning overall system.”
The project is divided into four stages: planning, plant construction, commissioning, and approval process. The entire planning of the primary and secondary technology has already been completed. Currently, the civil engineering measures are being conducted and the foundations for the high-voltage system are being positioned. The core team for this EQOS Energie project comprises six employees.
Convincing concept
Uwe Trampnau, managing director and head of the Energy Technology business unit: “We are pleased that we were able to convince our new customer, Energienetze Offenbach GmbH, of the comprehensive expertise of our new Energy Technology location in Pfungstadt.” The additional transformer will increase the grid capacity to meet the strong energy demand of the many data centres in the region. In Frankfurt/Main alone, there are now more than 60 of these centres, and in Offenbach one of the largest data centres in all of Germany is currently being built. Trampnau added: “This boom contributes to the economic upswing of the region and new jobs are being created. However, the prerequisite for this is a stable power supply. EQOS Energie makes a significant contribution to this in the form of efficient and reliable infrastructure.”