Combining infrastructures
The construction of the second tube brings many advantages. For example, the extra-high-voltage line which currently runs over the Gotthard can be integrated into the construction project. The power line over the Gotthard Pass will be dismantled and the surrounding area rewilded.
Pioneering cooperation with Swissgrid
The new road tunnel will be excavated using a tunnel boring machine, creating a cavity under the carriageway which can be used to house a range of infrastructure. The existing tube does not have this. This means that the second tube offers space for synergies with other projects, in addition to its own utility pipes and cables. The federal government is required to examine the potential for combining transmission lines with national roads and railway lines.
The connecting axis between north and south is of strategic importance for electricity supply. In this pioneering project, Swissgrid received approval from FEDRO and the Swiss Federal Office of Energy to lay Europe's first extra-high-voltage line in a road tunnel (see the project). The power line through the Gotthard Massif will have a transmission capacity of one gigawatt, equivalent to the output of a nuclear power plant. The technical preparations for the planned underground installation were therefore considerable.
Almost 18 kilometres of cable will be laid in the cavity under the emergency lane as the road tunnel is being constructed. The 220kV line is due to be completed by 2030 and will be the longest underground extra-high-voltage line in Switzerland. It replaces the overhead line over the Gotthard, which is in need of an overhaul. The 70 high-voltage pylons and 23 kilometres of overhead lines are to be dismantled, thereby enhancing the landscape and habitat on the Gotthard. The project will cost CHF 107 million.