Underground Cable Information Center

Year

2019

Organisation

TenneT

Description

This practice revolves around a pilot underground cable information centre called "Voltage under the Earth“, designed and built next to a TenneT cable construction site, to inform about the technology and increase local and regional acceptance.

 

Highlights

  • “Voltage under the Earth” is a permanent offer of a mix of information, touchable technology and a look "behind the scenes" of a sensitive topic.
  • It is a platform of encounters during the construction period of an underground cable instead of impersonal communication measures such as information letters.
  • To complement the information centre, TenneT has also set up observation towers along the construction site.

 

About the practice

One of TenneT’s new 380-kV AC power lines running from northern to western Germany is defined as a pilot project for partial underground cabling. The construction of the underground section raised great interest, because there was an overall need for information and a diffuse opinion among stakeholders, due to the fact that underground cabling is perceived as a new technology in the three-phase 380-AC-high-voltage sector as well as fears expressed by farmers who favour an overhead power line to protect their harvest.

In response to the concerns raised, TenneT built the underground cable information centre that features an exhibition with presentation walls, films and print material and touches upon grid planning, the differences between AC and DC, underground cable construction, impacts on the environment, soil protection and the technology utilised. Since its opening, TenneT has organised more than 60 events, including tours through the construction site, lectures, information events, in and around the centre with approximately 1,000 visitors participating.

So far, the initiative has led to a calmer environment for planning underground cabling sections in neighbouring regions and improved relationships with landowners, land users and residents in the vicinity of the cable. In case of conflicts related to the site, people always approached the centre directly, instead of going to the press, because the centre’s contact person was permanently on site.

 

Find out more

TenneT is a European electricity transmission system operator, with activities in the Netherlands and in Germany (over 22,500 kilometres of high-voltage connections supplying electricity to 41 million end-users).

RGI gratefully acknowledges the EU LIFE funding support:

EU LIFE funding support Logo

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the LIFE Programme. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.