Lienz Substation: 50 Years for Security of Supply

In September 1953 the Lienz substation was opened by the then federal minister of transportation and nationalized companies, Karl Waldbrunner. It was an important step in the completion of the nationwide electricity grid in Austria. Through the new substation the new power plants of East Tyrol and Carinthia could be integrated and a connection with the Italian power system was established.

In addition to distributing the electric energy in the nationwide transmission line network as required, the Lienz substation plays an extremely important role in backing and supplying the 110-kV distribution networks of TIWAG and KELAG.

The cross-border transmission line from Lienz to Italy is an important connection to the interconnected European power system UCTE (Union for the Co-ordination of Transmission of Electricity), which is essential for the security and quality of the European electricity supply.

In Austria, the security of supply is reaching the limits, however. In southern Austria the strained electricity situation will become more critical in the next years. The existing North-South lines, which were built in the 1950s, are technically overloaded already now. The surplus produced in the North and the supply bottlenecks in East Tyrol, Carinthia and Styria can no longer be compensated. Moreover, the expected boom of wind energy in the North and in the East of Austria will require the transport of large amounts of electricity somewhere in the order of 1000 megawatt. “The uninterrupted electricity supply in the future can only be guaranteed if the gaps in the high-voltage grid in Styria and in Salzburg are closed soon“, says Dr. Kaupa.