SPIE renews the Altheim transformer station on behalf of TenneT

Ergolding, September 08, 2020 – SPIE, the independent European leader in multi-technical services in the areas of energy and communications, is renewing and expanding the Altheim transformer station on behalf of the transmission network operator TenneT. As an important part of the electricity supply infrastructure in Bavaria, it was designed to ensure future-proof operation with a voltage level of 380-kV. After a tender process, the project started in March 2015 and has since been successfully completed.

Expanding for higher performance

The existing transformer station had to be retrofitted to improve its efficiency and meet the requirements for the upcoming North-South power transmission line. SPIE modernized the transformer station during ongoing operations to ensure an uninterrupted power supply and to avoid affecting households and companies connected to the power network. “Because of its size and its requirements, this contract was very ambitious” says Karl Olwitz, project manager at SPIE and responsible of the contract’s implementation. As the general contractor, the multi-technical service provider was responsible of the entire realisation of the project for five years, from planning to the supply of materials and installation of the 380 kV substation. “In order to increase the efficiency of the transformer station, the existing 220-kV plant was dismantled in sections, provisional arrangements ensuring continuity of service”, explains Karl Olwitz. The transformer station was then rebuilt in stages. For this purpose SPIE planned, built and installed four 380-kV conduction fields, two 380-kV transformer fields and three 110-kV transformer fields, a 380-kV current compensation coil and more than 18 fields of a triple bus rail. In addition, the multi-technical service provider installed a complete set of protection, control and communications technologies on site, erected the new factory building and eleven control cells, and equipped the entire plant with new exterior lighting. “The reconstruction of such a large transformer station requires precise planning and careful coordination of the various trades. The plant in Altheim is regarded as an important power grid node in the European integrated grid system and acts as an important interface for electricity supplies between Thuringia, Eastern Bavaria and across greater Munich to Austria”, says Anton Pritscher, site manager of the Schaltanlagenbau Ergolding unit.

Reliable partner for many years

TenneT and SPIE have been successfully cooperating for many years. As a product and manufacturer-neutral service provider, SPIE stands for service provided by one source and operational excellence. SPIE has developed into a reliable partner for the power grid operator, providing it with solutions to implement the energy transition.

The good cooperation between the two firms reflects in the many successful projects they led together in the past. “We are very proud that TenneT has once again placed their trust in us to carry this contract. It was a particular challenge for SPIE to assume the tasks of a general contractor”, says Josef Ammer, construction manager at SPIE and responsible for operational sequences on site. “Thanks to the high quality of our execution, a reliable adherence to schedules and high occupational safety standards, we were also once again able to make a convincing offer for this EU tender.”