OREANDA-NEWS. April 1, 2011. Steel pipe and railway wheel company Interpipe presented the infrastructure of the external power supply of Interpipe Steel, the Company’s electric steel smelting complex, at the third Ukrainian business summit titled, ‘Climate change: The problem of energy efficiency’ in Kiev on 23 March.

In the framework of the session ‘The role of business in reducing the negative impact on the environment with a focus on energy efficiency’ Interpipe presented ‘Interpipe Steel: Cable line 330 kW’. The project implementing the construction of the 330 kW cable line is designed to provide electric steel smelting complex Interpipe Steel with electricity and is a breakthrough in the field of high technologies in the domestic power industry. This is the first cable line in Ukraine of extra-high voltage (EHV) 330 kW and is the first line in Ukraine where horizontal drilling at a distance of 500 meters and more was used in construction.

The horizontal drilling made possible the installation of a cable line in the intersection of Nizhnedneprovskaya railway station without stopping the movement of trains. The same installation was made on the intersection with the Samara River without stopping shipping traffic.

The cable line of 330 kW is unique, as cable lines operating now in Ukraine do not exceed 110 kW and 220 kW. In the absence of standard documentation for project design, construction and exploitation of EHV cable lines, the specialists of Interpipe Steel with the assistance of the research institute ‘Ukrselenergoproekt’ developed a new chapter for the design of power electric installations, chapter 2.3, ‘Cable lines with voltage up to 330 kW’.

Vladimir Erak, Deputy Director of Interpipe Steel said: ‘Observance of environmental norms and the use of modern technologies providing maximum environmental protection is the founding principle of the construction of Interpipe Steel. Thus, faced with the choice between two options of the external power supply at Interpipe Steel, the decision was taken to build an underground cable line instead of an overhead power line. This meant that a negative impact on the environment and population was avoided as was the necessity to create a sanitary protection zone as well as reduce the buffer zone for the 330 kW cable line by 2 metres, instead of 30 meters from both sides of the wires for the 330 kW overhead line.’