Construction of Germany’s crucial north-south power link starts in reluctant state Bavaria

With several years of delay, construction of a key piece of grid infrastructure in Germany has started in the southern state of Bavaria. The SuedOstLink connection built by grid operator TenneT will link the economic powerhouse state with northern and eastern Germany. With its capacity of 2 gigawatts, it will greatly facilitate the transport of renewable electricity, the economy and climate action ministry (BMWK) has said. The power line will transport offshore wind power from Germany’s windy north to the state bordering the Alps in the south. “Step by step, we’re making progress towards climate neutrality in the power sector,” the government’s maritime economy coordinator Dieter Janecek said. In the next two decades, the country would need thousands of kilometres of new power lines “and these have to be planned, licensed and built quickly,” Janecek added. The converter of SuedOstLink, built near Landshut, marks the end point of a 540-kilometre transmission line. It will service several nearby industry centres, including Munich and Ingolstadt.

About 13,700 kilometres of new power lines spread over almost 120 individual projects are currently being planned or constructed in the country, the ministry said. The expansion of the country’s power grid has stalled for several years, primarily due to heavy resistance from local residents and other interest groups that have held up the implementation of the crucial energy transition project with lawsuits and protests. Resistance to the infrastructure project has been especially fierce in Bavaria, with the state government for a long time insisting that the main transmission line be built outside of its own territory. This is despite Bavaria lacking a sizeable wind power production capacity itself, meaning the state depends on supply from other states in the north that have made more progress in renewables expansion.