Greenpipe on study visit at Alvesta Energi.

Alvesta Energi in Sweden is in the process of replacing old overhead lines with cables in connection with the construction of a new residential area. Tobias Svensson from Greenpipe takes the opportunity to make a study visit in connection with encountering an obstacle in the form of mountains. Tobias will meet Anders Samuelsson, electricity network manager for Alvesta Energi, on site in the forest at Hanaslöv.

“Of course we can blow up, but blowing up is a big process and would mean we have to bring in outside help. We are a fairly small electricity network owner with not so many fitters, we have to work smart when we build. We have very good experience with Snap Hardlock™ from previous projects so we know that in this case there is a smarter solution than blowing up”, says Anders as Tobias and he walk through the forest towards the rock that prevents them from laying the pipe with the prescribed filling height. In this case, a new service cable has to be pulled and hose has already been laid out where it is now in the process of pushing through the new cable.

-“This time it’s only a short distance that’s the problem so our plan is not to split the hose but instead snap Snap Hardlock ™ size 110 as an extra cover around and then cover with a little mass on top of it. This way we don’t have to blow up, can do all the work ourselves and save both time and money.”

Once the cable has been pushed through the hose, the fitters Håkan Thorén and Kenneth Karlsson come and start installing the Snap Hardlock ™ pipes which goes so fast that Tobias has to brake them so we can get some pictures of the work.

-“When it’s longer and larger cable, we usually lift with the digger so we can get the cable up and can snap the pipes there, but when it’s a slightly smaller cable and only a short distance, it’s easier to just lift by hand” explains Håkan.

When they’re done, Kenneth tells me he was involved in setting up this air line 81-82, and now he gets to help replace it. “And in between, I’ve cleared this management street countless times, so it’s a good thing it’s going to be a cable now instead of me retiring soon,” Kenneth adds with a laugh.

Let’s talk a little bike before we get back into electricity distribution. Håkan says “I think this is a great product. Not having to dig deep ditches is incredibly grateful, not least here in rocky Småland. We have worked a lot with Snap Panzar™ before, including when we needed to cross a river. For smaller cables you can pull with the tar claw and just make a small sheep where you put the small Snap Panzar ™ pipe, it would have been smooth.”

A big thank you to Alvesta Energi for letting Greenpipe come out and disturb you at work. Good luck with the rest of the route, and if you encounter more obstacles, we are happy to be there to solve them for you!