$1.13 B transmission expansion planned in Austria(distribution transformer, power transformer)

ustria: Austrian network operator APG will invest more than $1.13 B (€1 B) in three major transmission projects designed to help integrate wind capacity in the country.

Around $905 M (€800 M) will be spent on construction of a 380 kV Salzburg Line to connect wind farms in the east of the country with pumped hydro storage facilities in the west.

The operator will also spend more than $339 M (€300 M) expanding the existing network in north Austria to ensure a more decarbonised energy supply in the country’s industrial heartland.

APG will invest about $226 M (€200 million) replacing the existing 15 km, 220 kV Weinviertel line with a new 380 kV link, capable of better integrating wind and solar projects in Lower Austria.

The operator plans to start four years of construction works for the Salzburg line in the fourth quarter of 2019.

APG chief technical officer, Gerhard Christiner, added that the 380 kV would enable the integration of a "massive expansion of renewable energies such as wind and photovoltaics into the electricity grid".

APG plans to start expanding the existing network in Upper Austria in 2025, ahead of planned operations in 2027, and aims to begin construction of the Weinviertel line in summer 2019 before commissioning it in 2022.

distribution transformer, power transformer

Source: Wind Power Monthly