i-DE doubles the power of Torrevieja's transformer substation

• The company has installed a new 50-megawatt transformer to meet the new challenges of the energy transition.
• After the expansion, the facility will be able to serve new developments in the area in terms of both consumption and generation and reinforce the distribution system in the Vega Baja.

i-DE, the distribution company of the Iberdrola group, has expanded the Torrevieja substation. The company, which has installed a new 50-megawatt (MW) transformer, doubles the capacity of the infrastructure to two transformers totalling 100 MW.

This action will improve the reliability and quality of the electricity supply in Torrevieja and the surrounding area, as well as facilitating access and connection of new requests for supply and generation that will take place within its scope.

With the commissioning of the substation extension, i-DE will be able to meet the growth in demand from the city and surrounding villages and will help to reduce losses in the distribution network due to its proximity to the areas that generate demand.

In addition, given its strategic location, this infrastructure will strengthen the electricity distribution system in Torrevieja as it will have greater capacity for manoeuvre when distributing loads.

The company, which has invested €1.3 million in this extension, continues to improve the distribution network in Torrevieja, where it has some 130,000 customers served by more than 400 transformer substations and more than 1,000 kilometres of medium and low voltage lines.

For i-DE, it is important to have a resilient electricity system in the area, particularly in the Vega Baja region, a territory with a high degree of urban occupation that has to withstand increasingly frequent extreme weather conditions or natural phenomena.

A robust, flexible and digitalised electricity grid for the Energy Transition

The transformation of the grids into a robust, flexible and intelligent infrastructure makes it possible to respond to the challenges of the electrification of the electricity system, with greater integration of renewables, the development of sustainable mobility, smart cities and self-consumption, as well as giving consumers greater decision-making capacity and connectivity.

In recent years, i-DE has undertaken an ambitious plan to digitaliseExternal link, opens in new window.  its electricity grids in the province of Alicante, where it has converted its more than 1.4 million meters and the infrastructure that supports them into smart meters, incorporating remote management, supervision and automation capabilities. In the province, i-DE manages approximately 30,000 kilometres of low and medium voltage lines and more than 1,000 km of high and very high voltage lines. It also has some 10,500 transformer stations in service and 51 primary and secondary substations.