The Director General of Energy and Mines of the Government of Aragón, Marina Sevilla, and the representative of the European Commission, Claudio Pincella, today visited, along with the regional delegate of Red Eléctrica, José Ignacio Lallana, the transmission grid facilities of this autonomous community chosen for the European Twenties project for the application of new technologies that allow a greater integration of wind power into the electricity system.

The Magallón electricity substation and the Fuendetodos-María line were the electricity installations chosen for the Twenties project and backed by the Government of Aragón for the application of innovative technologies that, in the three years the project has lasted, have achieved the goal set: to increase the flexibility of the electricity transmission grid and its capacity to safely and predictably manage a greater amount of wind power production.

In the Magallón substation, Marina Sevilla and Claudio Pincella learned about the functioning of the new devices that act as overload controllers and that are able to divert, automatically, the energy through alternative lines and avoid congestion at specific points in the transmission grid in situations of high wind production, thus reducing energy losses.

The European Commission representative also visited the 220 kV Fuendetodos-María line, which, within the framework of the Twenties project, includes a special conductor cable called OPPC (optical phase conductor) with an optical fibre inside that allows direct and constant measurement of conductor temperature throughout its length, in order to know the transmission capacity of the line in a precise and real-time manner.

The Twenties project has been co-financed by the European Commission within the framework of the Seventh Programme for research, development and demonstration, whose investment in the new technologies implemented by Red Eléctrica for these infrastructures has amounted to 5 million euros.

The projects carried out in the Magallón substation and the Fuendetodos-María line represent a significant step forward in the integration of renewable energies into the electricity system and confirm not only the European commitment in this field, but also the firm commitment of Red Eléctrica and the Government of Aragón to achieve a more sustainable, diversified and profitable electricity system.