OREANDA-NEWS. December 31, 2010. One of the largest producers of steel pipes and railway wheels, Interpipe, finished the first stage of complex testing of cable lines, which will be a key element of a new electricity system in the new mill at Interpipe Steel.

The cable, with a length of 12.8 km, is due to connect the electric steel smelting complex, Interpipe Steel, with a new substation ‘Pechnaya’ and Pridneprovskaya TES.

With a transmission of 330kW the cable line is the first line in Ukraine with such a high voltage.

During production of the line, new technologies were used to maximize protection and isolation of power equipment. The new line of transmission was built underground at a depth of more than one and a half meters and extended under the river Samara using advanced horizontal drilling. The appliance of new technologies and optimal route planning during the building of the cable line also helped avoid damage on the environment and population.

Gennadiy Esaulov, Director of Interpipe Steel said: “The new cable line is unique in its scale not only for Ukraine but for all the CIS countries. Even today, the power of many working cable lines does not exceed 110 kW and 220 kW and cannot satisfy the needs of energy consuming steel smelting production. Moreover, during the production of cable line there was no experience or legislation for high voltage lines in Ukraine. That is why this 330 kW cable line will provide the new mill with a break-through in high technologies and national electricity. Undoubtedly, the realization of such a large-scale project became possible only with the help of governor and city government. Thanks to their support we could operatively solve issues with land allocation and routing.”

The testing of the new line was performed by German electro technical company, SUDKABEL GmbH, which was the main supplier of cable and couplings for electricity transmissions. General contractors, “SVS Dnepr” and specialists from Interpipe Steel were also present during the testing of cable line.

Tests on quality of assembling cable couplings were carried out using modern equipment company SUDKABEL GmbH. During this cable coupling testing a continuous voltage supply was applied for 24 hours to confirm the service ability of the system. In order for additional verification of the reliability of couplings, the continued tension was applied to the line more than 40 hours. As a result, no signs of damage or defects were found.