Modernization of Czech power line that caused Friday outage to cost CZK 1.7 billion

Modernization of the V411 power line, where a cable break in the Ústí nad Labem Region led to a major power outage across the Czech Republic on Friday, will begin next year. Construction of a new double-circuit high-voltage line, which had been planned even before the incident, is expected to cost approximately 1.7 billion crowns. It is due to be completed in May 2027. ČTK was told this by Lukáš Hrabal, spokesperson for state-owned transmission system operator ČEPS.

He noted that the line is used to transmit high volumes of electricity from power plants and to carry electricity over long distances.

A massive power outage affected a large part of the Czech Republic for several hours on Friday, caused by a broken cable. According to ČEPS, the main mechanical cause was the rupture of a phase conductor, the cable that carries electricity between power plants and substations. This knocked the V411 backbone line out of service. Further faults in the domestic grid followed. According to Minister of Industry and Trade Lukáš Vlček (STAN), around one million customers were left without electricity.

According to ČEPS, this will not be a routine repair or modernization of the existing equipment on the line, but the construction of an entirely new double-circuit line. The company began preparing the project in 2016, including the full permitting process and all its stages, such as an EIA (environmental impact assessment), spatial planning and other permit requirements.

"This process normally takes ten to 12 years. ČEPS is also planning and carrying out many such investment projects and has to coordinate them so that the unavailability of lines undergoing modernization does not compromise the safe and reliable operation of the transmission system. Coordination must also take place with the operators of neighbouring countries' transmission systems," the state-owned company said.

Work is expected to begin in May next year and should take about a year. ČEPS is expected to select a contractor for the project in the coming months, and according to Hrabal, it aims to sign a contract with the successful bidder by the end of this year.

ČEPS has long warned that massive investment in the development and modernization of the transmission system will be needed in the coming years. The company currently invests around ten billion crowns a year in increasing the capacity of its power lines and networks.

ČEPS is now investigating the exact cause of Friday's technical problems. In addition to transmission system operator ČEPS and distributors, other experts will also take part in the investigation, including specialists from the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E) and experts who assess the specific equipment involved. According to ČEPS, energy workers repaired the fault on the phase conductor on Friday evening.