May 26 Terna inaugurated a record infrastructure, the “Sorgente Rizziconi” electroduct. Over 700 million Euros have been invested in a major work for the national electricity system, which will save about 600 million euro a year, will enter 700 thousand tons of CO2 less into the atmosphere every year, will allow 114 km of old lines to be dismantled and will produce less impact on more than 200 hectares of land.

The new “Sorgente Rizziconi” power line will unite the region of Sicily to Calabria, the rest of the peninsula and then to Europe via the Italian high voltage electricity system, eliminating the last “bottleneck” existing at zone level and creating the conditions for cancelling the price differential between Sicily and the rest of the country. Italy is now all connected from the electric point of view, with a high-voltage line seamlessy connecting Sicily to the Valle d’Aosta. The work will also allow better use of the Sicilian renewables, especially wind and solar, for over 700 MW.

The work uses the longest submarine 380 kV AC cable in the world – 38 km laid on the seabed at a maximum depth of 376 meters. On the Sicilian side of the connection to Source and Villafranca, as well as in Calabria, Scilla and Rizziconi, will feature four high-tech power stations that will allow the safe transport of energy. In the Scilla power station it was built the largest armored structure of its kind in Europe. low-impact modern single-pole pylons will support the power line in the section plane of the two regions, with a total length of 60 km.

Also impressive engineering solutions adopted: for cable landing in Calabria have been made – to eliminate the impact on the environment – the deepest vertical shaft (coming down for almost 300 meters into the mountain) and the longest tunnel horizontal (2.8 km) for high-voltage cables ever made so far in the world. On the Calabrian side of the tunnel formed by the hallway and out of the well houses invisibly electric connection cables that come from the sea and go straight to the Scylla electric station to over 600 meters above sea level, with no external impact either on the beach or on the protected surrounding natural area.

For more information: www.sesino.it