Weighing 300 tons and quite complicated to transport: the new transformer in the substation, which costs eleven million euros, brings the region closer together with Europe in terms of electricity.
After four weeks of transport across Germany, a high-voltage transformer weighing 300 tons and costing eleven million euros arrived at the substation in the south of Vöhringen on Saturday. The last stage of the transfer from the specially created siding to the site was only a blink of an eye, measured against the two and a half years that went into the preparation time for the transport. “A team of 40 people was involved,” explained LEW spokesman Ingo Butters, who was able to provide exciting insights into the complicated undertaking and at the same time explained how the voltage converter is related to the energy transition.
Complicated transport: by ship and rail to Vöhringen
The transport from the manufacturing plant in Mönchengladbach was first by rail, then from Krefeld to Mannheim by ship, where the colossus was again placed on a special wagon and then transported to Vöhringen. Transport windows in the route network had to be determined, and train routes had to be blocked again and again. Its extra width and the construction of the additional track further complicated matters for Deutsche Bahn. Butters estimates that the company had been involved with the transport for around two years.
A heavy-duty transporter was used for the last 350 meters, now back on the road: the transformer arrived with two so-called “carrying beaks” in the middle, which had the transformer on the hook and pulled by two trucks in front and behind. Nimble calculators came up with a total of 192 tires. The 450-tonne combination is a kind of centipede for the road and quite eye-catching. Onlookers had lined up along the route, and there was a lot of filming and photography going on. Memminger Strasse was temporarily closed.
For the drivers of a company specializing in such heavy transports, the task was not that spectacular. “They have already transported the Concorde to Sinsheim and a submarine,” Christian Higl found out. At LEW he is responsible for projects involving high-voltage systems. The new and now second such transformer in Vöhringen enables the “green” electricity produced in the region to get from the LEW distribution network to the national network of the electricity network operator Amprion, which also maintains systems in the substation.
Green electricity from the region for the European grid
According to Butters, the investment is directly related to the rapid expansion of renewable energies, especially photovoltaics in the south. More of it is already being produced every other day than the region needs. “This excess is fed into the international transmission grid,” says Josef Wagner, Managing Director of the LEW subsidiary Verteilnetze (LVN). Transmission grids are the electricity highways and part of a European interconnected grid, explains the spokesman. Figuratively speaking, the new transformer helps ensure that the electricity generated on a Vöhringen roof that is not currently needed in the region is then consumed by a refrigerator in Italy or a washing machine in France.
In total, the many decentralized systems can contribute a gigantic amount of electricity. On the Pentecost weekend, a new record of 1.6 gigawatts was set for the transfer to the transmission grid, says Wagner. Nevertheless, the performance of the “renewables” in the LEW network must triple again by 2030 in order to achieve the climate policy goals. It cannot be ruled out that another such transformer will then be needed in Vöhringen. The new track will therefore remain in place indefinitely.
The new transformer ends up weighing 502 tons
What do you notice when strolling through the otherwise strictly shielded area of the substation? The many flowers. The green areas were deliberately converted into flower meadows. On the other hand, a quiet humming can be heard. It comes from transformer one and is interpreted by Higl in such a way that it does not yet have optimal efficiency. “The new one,” which is scheduled to go into operation in October, “doesn’t hum.” In terms of its nature, a transformer is otherwise largely a product of classic heavy industry. It basically consists of copper coils around an iron core, surrounded by oil for cooling. Once the oil is added, the newcomer will weigh in at 502 tons, that’s just a side note.
The Lechwerke operate a total of eight such substations. In regular operation, they are not staffed, but are controlled from a control center in Augsburg. Every few months someone drops by in Vöhringen. To check whether a deer has strayed onto the site. But the calm will now be over on the site for the time being. Before the transformer can be connected, assembly work and tests still have to be carried out.
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