2019
TenneT
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
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.
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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).