Green light for Transelectrica’s LEA 400 kV Oradea-Bekescsaba project
One of the most important projects of Transelectrica, an investment of over RON 83mln, 400 kV OHL Oradea-Bekescsaba, was unlocked after 10 years.
The project of the 400 kV Oradea-Bekescsaba overhead line, blocked since 2008 due to expropriations, is revived, after the Government of Romania on 10 May 2018 adopted a Decision allowing the completion of expropriation procedures, which are in progress for the privately-owned buildings found within the expropriation corridor of the public utility of national interest project of the 400 kV OHL Oradea-Bekescsaba. The same Government Decision approved funds to install a 100 MVAr shunt reactor in the 400 kV substation Oradea Sud and to procure telecommunication and tele-transmission equipment for the 400 kV OHL Oradea-Bekescsaba.
“This Government Decision allows the completion of the 400kV Oradea-Bekescsaba overhead line, project in conservation for ten years. It’s about a large-scale investment, with a value updated in 2014 of over RON 83mln. The completion of this investment is of paramount importance for the safe operation of the National Power System, and the Government has understood this,” the Management Board of the National Power Grid Company Transelectrica SA has stated.
The 400 kV OHL Oradea-Bekescsaba was commissioned only partially, namely only the double circuit segment, the 400 kV OHL Nadab (RO)-Bekescsaba (HU): 60 de km, of which 22 on Romania’s territory at the same time with the 400 kV OHL Arad-Nadab. The segment of the 400 kV OHL Oradea Sud-Nadab is 72 km long, simple circuit A and has been partially completed.
The Oradea-Nadab segment will be commissioned and thus complete the 400 kV OHL Oradea-Bekescsaba, thus contributing to closing the 400kV ring of the country’s electricity transmission network, a priority objective of Romania.
Also, this line leads to avoiding congestion costs in the north-western region, which last year amounted to about 39,000 Lei in March and to about 160,000 Lei in November.
Similarly, the urgent completion of the work to the 400 kV OHL Oradea-Bekescsaba will remove the risk to impact the safety of the National Power System, an ever-increasing hazard generated by the potential unavailability of the interconnection line between Romania and Ukraine (the 400 kV OHL Rosiori-Mukacevo), circumstance when maintaining the operational safety in the country’s north-western region will become extremely difficult and costly.
Line completion can be assimilated to providing a new flux/route of electricity supply in the country’s north-western region, with significant impact over the increased operational safety, the availability of electricity transmission services, the response/re-supply speed, the capacity and resilience in case of malfunctions in the transmission infrastructure caused by major failures, natural calamities, disasters, armed or terrorist attacks etc.
The commissioning of the 400 kV OHL Oradea Sud-Nadab will increase by 100 MW the export interconnection transfer capacity and by 300 MW the importer one, depending on the seasonal specific internal and external factors.
At present Romania has got only 7% interconnection capacity against the installed capacity of the SEN, compared to the 10% target provided in the European regulations for 2020, an aspect notified by the European Commission. Such commissioning of the 400 kV OHL Oradea Sud-Nadab will contribute to approaching to the European target.
