Mörel - Ulrichen

380-kV Mörel - Ulrichen line

The extension to the power line between the Valais and Ticino is making further progress: The planned 380 kV high voltage power line between Mörel and Ulrichen is a part of the complete West – East electricity transit axis between Airolo and Chamoson and hence a part of Switzerland's strategic network. It is anticipated that from 4 February 2008, the CHF 87 million project for strengthening the 380 kV and the 132 kV power lines will be on display to the public for 30 days.

The background to the whole of the power line construction project is the increase in capacity between the Valais and Ticino for increased supply reliability both in the Valais region and the rest of Switzerland. This section of the 380 kV power line and also the 132 kV power line between Ulrichen and Airolo over the Nufenen pass was already completed in the autumn of 2005. The section between Chamoson and Chippis is currently in the approval phase; the section between Chippis and Filet/Mörel is in the project planning phase.

Between Filet/Mörel and Ulrichen, the masts for the new power line are also to carry the conductor for the 132 kV power grid of the Swiss National Railways, SBB. This is to be extended down the valley to the SBB's Massaboden power station. The existing 220 kV line between Filet/Mörel and Ulrichen will be dismantled. In 2002, the Swiss Government defined a corridor for the route of the power line which took into account various requirements such as the distance from residential areas, economic efficiency, protection of the countryside, exposure to the elements, etc., in the form of a compromise. This corridor is definitively specified in the official planning for overhead power lines (Sachplan Überlandsleitungen, SÜL).