Terna: € 60 Million for the New 'Invisible' Power Line
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The works envisaged in the plan to restructure the high-voltage grid in the Dolomites will increase the resilience and efficiency of the North Eastern grid TERNA: € 60 MILLION FOR THE NEW ‘INVISIBLE’ POWER LINE BETWEEN CORTINA AND AURONZO The link, which is 24 km long and laid entirely underground, was completed in record time for the 2021 World Ski Championships scheduled from 7 February Terna will invest over € 370 million in Veneto over the next 5 years Rome, 4 February 2021 – Terna has commissioned its new 24 km long ‘invisible’ power line, linking Cortina d'Ampezzo with Auronzo di Cadore, in Veneto. The highly technological and entirely underground infrastructure is part of a broader project for the modernisation and restructuring of the electricity grid in the northern part of Belluno, an initiative which Terna has invested € 60 million in. Completed in record time - a mere 13 months - the works will support the Italian electricity system and facilitate the safe execution of the World Ski Championships, a sporting event of global significance which will be held in Cortina d'Ampezzo from 7 to 21 February. The power line runs for 15 km in the municipality of Cortina d'Ampezzo and 9 km in the municipality of Auronzo di Cadore, between the Zuel and Somprade substations respectively, and is of strategic importance for a large area of the North East. Along with the new Auronzo di Cadore station (in Cima Gogna), which is currently under construction, and the reorganisation of the existing 132 kV and 220 kV grid, the new cable contributes to increasing meshing and improving the efficiency, reliability and resilience of the local electricity grid, which is liable to suffer outages and be severely affected by the extreme weather conditions experienced in recent years. The construction of the new power line, which was authorised by the Italian Ministries of Economic Development and the Environment in August 2019, involved 27 specialised companies (of which many were local) and up to 100 workers on the work sites, and was carried out in accordance with the best standards of sustainability and environmental protection, leaving the wooded landscape of the northern part of Belluno intact. The work started in November 2019 and was completed last December, despite the COVID pandemic. The work sites continued to operate on several fronts and with several teams at the same time, a method which made it possible to considerably reduce the time necessary to complete the work and consequently reduced the inconvenience caused to the local population and tourism in the area. The cables were laid using part of the existing road and alpine paths and a combination of techniques: for sections without obstacles, installation was carried out via open trenching, while those featuring obstacles along the route (streams, roads, etc.), no-dig technologies were used, such as controlled horizontal drilling. In particular, the completely underground power line consists of 40 consecutive sections, connected via high-voltage cables. The works are the result of a long and fruitful decision-making process featuring territorial participation, with Terna working closely with local communities, as well as local bodies, institutions and administrations, for the first time since the definition phase. Terna’s meeting with local communities has been a fundamental part of the design process and has complemented each phase of the works until their completion. The work is part of Terna’s investments in Veneto. In line with the new 2021-2025 Industrial Plan, Terna has planned a financial commitment of over € 370 million within the Veneto region over the next five years for the development, modernisation and improved resilience of the region’s electricity grid, which will involve around 200 companies and 850 workers and technicians active across the work sites and the factories. On a national scale, Terna will invest a total of € 8.9 billion between 2021 and 2025. .