Image: Rubasch Ulrike
LINZ. “Key project”, “Milestone”, “Central for the decarbonization of the business location”, “Prerequisite for the energy transition” – descriptions that accompanied the groundbreaking ceremony for the expansion of the “Hütte Süd” substation in Linz’s Lunzerstrasse on Tuesday. It is the “largest conversion of the power supply since electrification in the Linz area,” said Johannes Zimmerberger, Managing Director of Linz Netz.
The investment of 80 million euros is shouldered for the most part by voestalpine, the rest by the grid company Austrian Power Grid (APG). A company building with three transformers will be built next to the old brick house. By 2026, this new part of the substation should also connect voestalpine to the high-level 220 kV line network and ensure that the new electric arc furnace gets enough electricity, i.e. 300 megawatts around the clock.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Voest Supervisory Board wanted to make the final decision on this investment decision worth more than one billion euros. The first electric arc furnace is scheduled to start in 2027 and will reduce the steelmaker’s CO2 emissions by 30 percent. Another coke blast furnace is to be replaced from 2030. The new network node is “our gateway to the 220 KV world and the step towards the implementation of a green, sustainable future,” said Helmut Gruber, Member of the Voestalpine Stahl Board.
Manfred Hofer, Managing Director of Netz OÖ, described the “Hütte Süd” as a big leap “that creates security of supply in Upper Austria”. The new substation is part of APG’s network expansion plan, which is building around 20 new substations in Austria and investing 3.5 billion euros by 2032 to provide the prerequisites for the energy transition. “So that we don’t have to pay almost two billion euros a year for bottleneck management, which Austria as an economy pays more for electricity every year than would be necessary,” says APG CEO Gerhard Christiner.
“Anyone who wants the energy transition must also want grid expansion,” said Markus Achleitner, State Councilor for Economic Affairs. With this and another 1350 other expansion projects in Upper Austria, it is ensured that decentrally generated wind and solar power can be transported. Environment Councilor Stefan Kaineder also welcomed the expansion and said: “We have to make our entire affluent society climate-neutral, i.e. electrify in the fast lane.”
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