Tunnel construction Longest extra-high-voltage line is laid in the second Gotthard tunnel
Swissgrid will lay an 18-kilometer 220-kilovolt line in the second tube of the Gotthard road tunnel. The national grid company announced on Monday that the longest underground extra-high-voltage line in Switzerland will go into operation by 2030.
14.04.2025, 10:12
SDA
The work, which was approved by the Swiss Federal Inspectorate for Heavy Current Installations (Esti) at the beginning of the year, is expected to start in 2028 and will cost more than 100 million Swiss francs, according to the press release.
The new line will be laid in the service duct under the emergency lane. In order to compensate for voltage fluctuations, additional facilities will be built at both ends of the tunnel, Swissgrid wrote. This means that the highway and electricity grid will be used together, a first in Europe, it said.
Because the highway tunnel and line construction will take place at the same time, costs can be saved. After commissioning, the old 23-kilometre-long line over the Gotthard Pass will be dismantled. According to the grid company, this will reduce the impact on nature, for example in the Schöllenen Gorge, Tremola and in the forest in the area of the existing line.
