Wire rope supported transmission line for large vertical distances

The Linthal 2015 project is a giant building project in the Swiss Alps for a pumpedstorage hydropower plant with a turbine output of 1000 MW [1]. A higher-lying lake has to be added with a dam and connected to the lower-lying lake by tunnels through the mountain massif. Control units on the upper level get their power from the lower level installations. The vertical distance is about 770 m 1, while the route is about 1200 m 1 long. This distance has to be covered by a 20 kV power supply cable without the possibility for fixing over the whole distance, except at the beginning and the end. A standard power supply cable would break under its own weight, so a hybrid construction including wire ropes was developed, manufactured and tested. The precise knowledge of the system with its design limits and performances allows to apply this design in the Linthal2015 project and elsewhere.