overview of grid

AFRY in a project to increase the grid capacity in Stockholm to suit the future

More people live in urban areas today than ever before. With this comes a rising electricity demand. Households and industries are both large consumers of electricity and the consumption will increase even more since the rise of electrification in society.

Storstockholm Väst is Svenska kraftnäts project name of several upgrades in the transmission grid, made in the western parts of Stockholm. In this new project, 220 kV transmission lines are replaced with new 400 kV lines to increase the capacity in the electricity grid. The purpose of this upgrade is not only to increase the safety of operation in the grid but also to prepare the infrastructure as the region grows and the electricity demand will increase in the future.

AFRY was recently awarded the project to do detailed engineering for the connection between Kronåsen and Beckomberga. The Kronåsen-Beckomberga section is to be constructed as an underground cable as the area it passes is densely populated and the magnetic field from an overhead transmission line would have become too high. This connection will increase the capacity of the electricity and grid the operational safety of the electricity grid, both during normal operation and in connection with faults and maintenance work. It will reduce the risk of power outages in the network. The possibility of making planned interruptions to the transmission network is also improved without overloading other electrical connections.

Several areas and different corridors have been investigated, and the final route of the cable is being narrowed down from these alternatives. Here many factors contribute when deciding on a final route. This is an extensive process and must be carried out with great precision. The area is densely populated, with infrastructure both above and below ground. In combination with several infrastructure developments ongoing parallel to this project, there is a great need for coordination. To get an overview of all the crossings between the new cable and the other infrastructure; BIM, a 3D visualization concept will be used. This model will help to visualize and prevent collisions between infrastructures. The model gives a picture that is closer to reality than many more traditional tools, used in cable route design.

Recently we have been working intensively on developing our BIM-concept for transmission lines, it can be a gamechanger of how we perform and communicate in our projects. In the development of the concept, we had great help from our friends at Transportation, Infrastructure division. With their experience from BIM and our deep knowledge of Transmission Lines, we can deliver market-leading service to our customers, says project manager Victor Västernäs.

AFRY started working with the project in January 2021 and is planning to deliver procurement documents and drawings in 2024. 2028 the new connection is planned to be installed and ready.