• The investment of Red Eléctrica in the 220kV substation, as well as the line feeding said facility totals 11 million euros.
• The substation is essential to ensure the supply to the Torre Pacheco area.

The Minister of Enterprise, Industry and Innovation in the region of Murcia, José Ballesta Germán, has today inaugurated the 220 kilovolt (kV) Balsicas electricity substation in Murcia, accompanied by the Director of Project Implementation and Environmental Area of Red Eléctrica de España, Eduardo Ramos García. Also attending the ceremony was the Mayor of Torre Pacheco, Daniel García Madrid. 

This new substation will strengthen the contribution of power from the transmission grid to the distribution network in the area of Torre Pacheco, which is necessary to ensure the quality and reliability of the current and future electricity supply in the area.

Located in the southern edge of the village of Balsicas, this substation is fed by two 220 kV circuits connected to the El Palmar-Fausita 220 kV line, which joins up to the rest of the meshed electricity transmission grid.

REE Investment

The investment made by Red Eléctrica in the substation, as well as in the line feeding it, totals 11 million euros, including two bays for connecting the lines that will tie it into the El Palmar substation in Murcia, and that of Fausita in Escombreras, and three more bays to feed the transformers of the electricity distributor in the area. It also has the possibility to be enlarged, in the future, to link up with other transmission substations.

The Balsicas 220 ​​kV substation has been built using GIS technology (Gas Insulated Switchgear) inside the building, so that the reliability and quality of supply is ensured with a minimal effect on the soil and visual impact on the environment.

This new transmission substation will allow not only to cover the needs regarding power and reliability associated to the existing supply and the natural growth of consumption in the area, but also those of all the new industrial, residential and services developments that in the future become established and for which the substation will be an important driver.

In the past eight years, Red Eléctrica de España has invested 133 million euros in the transmission grid in the region of Murcia. Noteworthy amongst these investments was the commissioning of the 400 kV substations in El Palmar (Murcia), Totana, Lorca and Jumilla, the large 400 kV electricity transmission axes between the Valle de Escombreras and Murcia and the one from Murcia that ties into the axis that heads towards Almeria and Alicante. The enlargement of the Fausita 400 kV substation (Escombreras) and the remodelling and enlargement of the El Palmar 220 kV substation are also worth highlighting.

Investment by Iberdrola

Iberdrola, through its distribution subsidiary, has set aside 5.5 million euros towards the construction and commissioning of the medium voltage system -which operates at the voltage of 20 kV- and the 50 MVA (mega volt-amperes) power transformer in the Balsicas transformer substation.

In this way, it will ensure the quality of the electricity supply in the municipality of Torre Pacheco, as well as the districts of southern Murcia -Gea and Truyols, Avileses, Sucina and Valladolises- and part of the county of San Javier, strengthening their electricity distribution facilities and providing them with greater capacity and robustness.

In 2013, Iberdrola recorded the best quality electricity supply in history in the region of Murcia and reduced the duration of incidents compared to 2012 by 17.5%.

The Press Office of Red Eléctrica publishes all written and visual information via the Twitter account @RevistaREE.

Also on Facebook through the account Revista Entrelíneas.