Gas insulated transmission lines in railway galleries — Part II

The possibility of installing a double-circuit Gas Insulated transmission Line (GIL) in the pilot tunnel of the planned new railway galleries Fortezza-Innsbruck has been throughout described in a previous paper [1]. The importance of this topic has driven the European Community to co-finance a feasibility study in the frame of Trans-European Energy Networks (TEN-Energy Programme). The study will last three years and will be completed at the end of 2005. The Italian (GRTN) and Austrian (TIRAG) TSOs are involved in this study together with the University of Padova. The work is in progress and this paper reports the studies that have been already finished: it is completely focused on the technical feasibility whereas the integration into the EHV Austrian and Italian networks, a comparison with other transmission technologies and the environmental impact will be set out in a next paper.