Transelectrica inaugurated the most complex overhead power line built in the last 30 years: LEA 400 kV Portile de Fier – (Anina) – Reșita

Transelectrica inaugurated last night, through a ceremony organized in the Portile de Fier Power Station, the 400 kV Overhead Power Line Portile de Fier – (Anina) – Reșita.

The investment project had a total value of 150 million lei, from own funds, the works being executed by the Association ELECTROMONTAJ S.A. BUCURESTI – ROMELECTRO S.A., with subcontractors: EMFOR MONTAJ SA, SC ELECTROMONTAJ SA Sibiu and SC ELECTROMONTAJ SA Cluj, with the contribution of the consultant GOPA – International Energy Consultants GmbH ROENG T.E.C. The design of the line was carried out by the Bucharest Institute of Energy Studies and Design.

Mircea Abrudean, Secretary General of the Government: “The construction of this overhead power line represents a historic moment for Romania in terms of the development of the energy infrastructure. We are talking about 117 kilometers of new and partially rehabilitated energy infrastructure. This project is not only a remarkable technical achievement, but also firm proof that our commitment to innovation and sustainability is permanent. The completion of the most complex project in the last 30 years on the energy infrastructure side represents for Romania a symbol of perseverance in the face of technical challenges and an example of close collaboration between the public and private sectors. Behind this important achievement are endless hours of work, research and innovation. It is the result of a dedicated team of engineers and specialists who put their expertise to bring this project to life. It is an important step towards a sustainable future and will increase the ability to connect to the grid for new electricity consumers who want to develop their activities in this area.”

Ștefăniță Munteanu, President of the Directorate: “The investment we are inaugurating today is only one of those to be completed in the coming years to strengthen energy security in the western part of the country, and here we are talking about the entire Banat Axis, from Reșita, Timișoara to Săcălaz and Arad, which will thus close the 400 kV main in the west of the country. The benefits of these investments are huge both for Romania’s energy security and for the economic development of the area and local communities. Transelectrica’s commitment to investments remains firm and in the sense of the mission we have to fulfill, that of guaranteeing the operational safety of the National Electric Power System. At this time, the network development plan approved for the period 2022-2031 has a value of 1.4 billion euros, of which approximately half a billion euros are financing from European funds: the Modernization Fund and REPowerEU”.

Overhead Power Line 400 kV Portile de Fier – (Anina) – Reșita is an essential project for closing Romania’s 400 kV ring in the western area, being one of the most complex, from a technical point of view, and difficult projects carried out in the energy infrastructure from Romania, in the last 30 years. Its route mostly crosses a mountainous area, with rugged and difficult terrain. The technical complexity and challenges that the project teams, both of the builders and of Transelectrica, encountered in the execution process of the works reflect the extraordinary effort of the specialists who contributed to the completion of this line.

LEA 400 kV Portile de Fier – (Anina) – Reșita will be operationalized from a commercial point of view with the completion of the construction works of the 400 kV Reșita station, estimated in the second semester of this year. At the same time, the new 400 kV Reșița station will also allow the operationalization of the 400 kV Overhead Power Line of Reșița – Pancevo interconnection, completed in 2018.

Taking into account the fact that the Western area of the National Electric Power System faces a deficit in both production and consumption of energy, the realization of this investment will make a significant contribution to increasing the performance of the network and the quality of the electricity transport service, securing the supply of a consumption of over 1000 MW. With the commercial operationalization of LEA 400 kV Portile de Fier – (Anina) – Reșița will considerably increase the capacity to connect to the grid, both for new electricity consumers who want to develop their activities in this area, and for the integration of some new sources of energy production, especially renewable ones, thus creating the conditions for a sustainable economic development for the western part of the country.

Correlated with the construction of the new 400 kV Reșita station, LEA 400 kV Portile de Fier – (Anina) – Reșita will contribute to the consolidation of the energy sector in the Banat region and will facilitate the increase of the interconnection capacity with the ENTSO-E network by 600 MW, for the benefit users connected to the network.

The new Overhead Electric Line 400 kV Portile de Fier – (Anina) – Reșita has a total length of 117 kilometers that crosses the territory of 13 administrative-territorial units from two counties (Mehedinți and Caraș-Severin) and is made up of two sections: a construction new with 259 poles (the Portile de Fier – Anina section) with a length of 81 kilometers (19.5 kilometers on the territory of Mehedinți County and 61.5 kilometers on the territory of Caraș-Severin County), and the modernization of an existing line of 120 poles (Anina – Reșita section), with a length of 36 kilometers, entirely on the territory of Caraș-Severin county.

Impressive amounts of materials were used to build this line: 3,732 cubic meters of concrete and 267 tons of reinforcement were needed to build the foundations, and the RODELTA poles weigh over 3,500 tons of steel. A total length of conductor with increased capacity (on the Anina-Reșita section) of 225.8 kilometers was installed, and for the new line section, the total length of the installed conductor reached 748 kilometers.