The Megalopolis-Patra-Western Central Greece electricity transmission line was completed and put into operation (the so-called “Western Corridor”), which improves the stability of the system and creates the conditions for more efficient operation of the power generation units in Megalopolis as well as the underwater interconnection with Crete.

With the Western Corridor project, as announced by ADMIE, the Peloponnese is connected for the first time to the Ultra High Voltage System (400 kilovolts), as until now the Peloponnese system operated at High Voltage (150 kilovolts), being an exception compared to the rest Continental country.

“The Operator delivered the new Transmission Line in the fastest possible time, despite the significant obstacles that arose during its construction”, emphasizes ADMIE and adds: “In view of protecting the energy security of the residents of the Peloponnese, ADMIE paid from at the first moment, every possible effort to unblock this important project, maturing and advancing in the shortest possible time the planning and implementation of an alternative route of the new Line to Kalavryta.

In order to achieve this, he had to redo a number of complex and time-consuming procedures (permits, expropriations, studies, construction of the new road). In addition, in the adverse economic situation that followed, mainly due to the pandemic, the Administrator shouldered the increased costs caused by the forced delay of the project, without affecting the implementation of its ten-year investment program”.

As the Administrator points out:

The new 400 kV Megalopolis-Patra-Western Central Greece Transmission Line is a particularly important infrastructure for the safe electrification of the Peloponnese, which will decongest the region’s saturated networks and create a strong supply corridor to and from the rest of mainland Greece , through the High Voltage Centers of Achelou and Distomo.

The Western Corridor will give local thermal power plants (natural gas or lignite) the ability to operate up to their maximum capacity, thus contributing to the stability of the System and the more efficient operation of the Balancing Market.

Another important benefit of the project is that the new 400 kV Transmission Line will further strengthen the existing electricity interconnection between Crete and Laconia.

The Western Corridor project consists of overhead and underground Transmission Lines and also includes the first underwater 400 kV Ultra High Voltage cable installed between Rio and Antirio. Until today, the connection of the Peloponnese with the rest of the System was made exclusively with 150 kV lines, therefore of reduced transmission capacity.

The expansion and upgrade of the 400 kV System in the Peloponnese will be completed with the Eastern Corridor which includes the interconnection of Megalopolis with Corinth and Attica, with a horizon of 2025.

The two projects will drastically increase the power transmission capacity to and from the Peloponnese, overall upgrading the operation and safety of the Southern System, with a direct positive impact on the local economy and the wider society.