The construction work for the underground high-voltage line over the Reschenpass should take two years.
The Italian power grid operator Terna is investing 85 million euros in a new high-voltage power line between Italy and Austria. Terna will build the new, entirely underground power connection over the Reschen Pass with a voltage of 220 kilovolts (kV). This will connect Nauders in Tyrol with the network node of the South Tyrolean community of Glurns over a distance of 24 kilometers, which is being expanded for this purpose, according to Terna in a press release.
Terna is building the high-voltage line with the Austrian transmission network operator Austrian Power Grid (APG). The construction work will take two years. According to APG information from a year ago, commissioning is scheduled to take place in 2023, and investments have been estimated at around 70 million euros. The new connection will make it possible to better integrate the electricity grids of neighboring countries and to use the available electricity more efficiently in exchange, said Terna now. This also makes it possible to bring cheaper electricity into the country from abroad.
“This project is a milestone for us. Thanks to our development plan, Italy is on the one hand ever closer to the countries of the Mediterranean and on the other hand with Austria, Switzerland and France,” said Terna CEO Stefano Donnarumma.
Terna, operator of 72,900 km of electricity network, wants to increase its annual turnover from 2.2 to 2.7 billion euros by 2023. The group is planning large-scale investments to connect energy networks in Europe, Africa and the Balkans. The company, 29.9 percent in the hands of the public holding company CdP Reti, wants to become an international player in the implementation of the European strategy to reduce CO2 emissions to zero by 2050, according to the CEO.
