Fluvius is refurbishing its "7de Havendok" transformer station in Antwerp
On Noorderlaan, in the heart of the Port of Antwerp, Fluvius is putting the finishing touches to a major refurbishment project. The "7de Havendok" transformer station, a key electrical hub for the power supply, is being completely refurbished. The works form part of Fluvius’ multi-year investment plan to strengthen the electricity grid to meet rapidly growing energy demand.
One of the 260 electrical hubs in Flanders
Flanders has around 260 transformer stations, or ‘TS’. In 235 cases, they form a connection point where Elia’s high-voltage grid and Fluvius’ distribution network are linked. Through these substations, high voltage is converted and distributed to the underlying medium-voltage networks.
“TS 7de Havendok is one of the most important interconnection points for the Port of Antwerp-Bruges,” says Didier Maes from Network Development at Fluvius. “Inside the substation, three Elia transformers, each with a capacity of 50 MVA (megavolt-amperes), feed our 15-kilovolt network, which supplies power to countless port companies. Our entire installation — both the building and the switchgear — is being upgraded. The new installation will be fully operational by mid-April, the result of four years of preparation.”
New building, new cables, new technology
The refurbished substation features 22 modern cells from which supply cables run to switchgear stations in the port. Thanks to advanced monitoring and control technology, Fluvius can prevent and resolve faults even more quickly from its central control centres. This enhances security of supply and provides scope for future growth.
Investment plan safeguards us against grid overload
The Port of Antwerp is a real hub of business activity, which brings with it significant peaks in both electricity consumption and generation. Many companies are accelerating the switch of their energy systems to electricity and are also investing in renewable energy. As a result, the electricity grid is at risk of reaching its limits.
To prepare the grid for this, Fluvius has been making targeted investments for several years. In the Port of Antwerp, for example, the Henry Ford substation (SP) was upgraded, the new Nextgen substation was built, and cables in the Waasland Tunnel were reinforced. The power supply to the Vossenschijn substation has also been relocated to the Damplein transformer station to distribute capacity more evenly.
Later this year, upgrades will be carried out at, amongst others, the Korte Wielenstraat, Luchtbal and Vossenschijn switching stations, as well as the new Sint-Annabos substation on Linkeroever. In the coming years, the Scheldelaan and Damplein substations will also be upgraded. In the longer term, Fluvius and Elia will jointly build the entirely new Bevrijdingsdok substation.
What is a transformer station?
Fluvius’s 260 transformer stations form part of the backbone of the electricity grid in Flanders. At these substations, the ‘high voltage’ supplied by grid operator Elia is safely distributed (or ‘switched’) to the underlying electricity networks, each time at a medium-voltage level of 10, 11, 12, 15 or 30 kilovolts (and in some parts of Flanders also 36 and 70 kilovolts). From there, they supply power to businesses and homes, right up to your door.
Eef De Vos