Reconnection of the High Voltage Grids of Southeast Europe
On October 10, 2004, the electric grids of Southeast Europe, including Greece, were reconnected to the interconnected system of western Europe. Since the 1991 destruction from war of a large power substation at Ernestinovo in eastern Croatia, the electrical energy networks of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia & Montenegro, Macedonia, and Greece had been operated as a separate interconnected system. This separate system was later joined to the Bulgarian and Romanian grids, as well as to portions of western Ukraine’s, which previously were part of the interconnected system of the former Soviet Union and are now for the first time integrated to western Europe. Reconnection was made possible with the completion of reconstruction of the war damaged portions of the grid in Croatia in 2003, followed by the completion of substations and power transmission lines in Bosnia in August of 2004.
The reconnected system will have 400 million users, from Portugal to Poland , representing the largest electrical energy system in the world in terms of consumption. "This provides momentum for the European electricity market and lifts supply safety to a higher level," Chief Executive Ivan Mravak of HEP (Croatia) said on 11 October. These countries will now be able to trade electricity with the EU countries. The reconnection process was launched in early October with the opening of a 400kv electrical line from the Ernestinovo station to Ugljevik in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Five other high voltage lines were energized – between Mukecevo in western Ukraine and Risiori in Romania, Sandorfalva Hungary and Subotica in Serbia, Arad in Romania and Sandorfalva in Hungary , Ernestinovo in Croatia and Mladlost in Serbia, plus between Trebinje in Bosnia- Herzegovina and Podorica in Montenegro – to complete the process. Detailed preparations led to these actions. "We will need at least one to two months to check whether everything has been done properly, in order to rule out a possible collapse of the system," says George Katsigiannakis, executive director of the Hellenic Transmission System Operator, which operates Greece 's electrical system.
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Orange: 1st UCTE Synchronous Zone
Purple: 2nd UCTE Synchronous Zone
Source: UCTE |
USAID’s Contribution Acknowledged by the EBRD Board Meeting of November 2, 2004
For several years, USAID has played a role in this process by supporting collaboration among utilities in SEE region in the SECI Regional Electricity Transmission Planning Project, which developed a single transmission model for the region that permitted detailed simulation studies of this interconnection, including those of new investments for strengthening the high voltage grid. Among the options studied were a Macedonia – Bulgaria transmission line which led to the first loan of the EBRD involving a project crossing the border among two countries, and the recently completed Bosnia-Serbia line. Options for new Serbia-Macedonia and Kosovo-Albania links are now being suggested for feasibility studies by the World Bank. A new Turkey-Greece link that was also part of the studies is now in advanced stages of construction.
The contribution of the SECI Regional Electricity Transmission Planning Project was recognized in the EBRD Board meeting of November 2, 2004, in response to documentation prepared relating to the Board’s approval of the € 23.2 million loan to Transelectrica for the Romanian portion of the new Oradea (Romania) to Bekescsaba (Hungary) interconnection:
“… new transmission lines with Central and Southeast Europe were examined in order to increase interconnection capacity with UCTE countries. According to a regional study prepared by SECI ( Southeast Europe Cooperation Initiative) in 200, funded by USAID, the proposed new interconnections contribute positively, increasing the maximum exchange between Balkan systems, Turkey and Central Europe and reducing losses on the regional system. The study investigated the economic and technical advantages of interconnections between the regional transmission networks by assessing the rehabilitation and construction of a number of transmission lines across the region. The study identified the proposed new interconnection between the Romanian and the Hungarian power grids as a priority line which would maximize reliability, efficiency and reduce losses.”
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