High voltage cable grids (a branch of Mosenergo) started to build a cable tunnel for a 110 kV cable line from CHP-16 to substation Chkalovskaya that will be laid in the special tunnel in order to preserve a unique natural Birch-Tree Park along Kuusinen street.

As a rule, cable lines are built in an open way by excavating a trench and laying a cable into it. However, sometimes this method is unacceptable as it may damage transportation infrastructure or nature (due to cutting down of trees). In such cases tunnel technologies are used and are expected to save a historical Moscow site Birch-Tree Park.

The total length of the 110 kV cable line Chkalovskaya-Grazhdanskaya is more than 6,200 m and the length of the tunnel is almost 260 m. The power specialists will use the drilling equipment that weigh around 60 t to build a tunnel of 3.6 m in diameter. The construction of the tunnel under the Birch-Tree Park is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2005 and the substation Chkalovskaya is planned to be put into operation by mid-2005.

This cable line will make it possible to supply electricity to the planned residential area at Khodynka while the use of drilling technologies will save the natural complex Birch-Tree Park. The cable line that will link CHP-16, Chkalovskaya and Grazhdanskaya will have a number of advantages. First of all, in this project Mosenergo is using cable made of sewn polyethylene that is more reliable, and more importantly, ecologically clean. Secondly, the cable will include a fiber-optic line that will make it possible to transmit digital data on the condition of the cable straight to dispatches. The tunnel also will also accommodate a back-up line which is quite handy taking into account the growing power consumption in the capital.

In the near future, Mosenergo plans to construct several cable lines in Moscow using similar technologies (under Kutuzovsky Prospect and Moscow River to Substation City) for purposes of power supply.