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Virtual museum

Portichetto Substation

When Ferrovie Nord presented its application to electrify the Saronno-Como Lago line in 1932, it did not intend to install a new substation. The idea was to power the new electrification by installing the necessary equipment in a substation belonging to the Società Elettrica Subalpina. In a variation of the project presented in December 1934, the definitive solution involved powering the line via a second substation for transformation and conversion, to be installed near the station of Portichetto-Luisago.


This substation would be powered by a 15,000 volt three-phase three-wire system supplied by the Società Elettrica Subalpina distribution centre at Grandate-Breccia. Construction of the Portichetto substation was completed in 1936, and two mercury arc transformer-rectifier units were installed, built by TIBB and equipped with a water cooled control grid and vacuum pump, each with a quantitative output of 2000 kW. On 1st March 1937, electrification on the Saronno-Como Lago line and the Portichetto substation were officially opened, in the presence of a large crowd.