Fitting more power into the existing grid
A range of comparatively simple measures could increase the capacity of the German power grid within the next two to four years, energy think tank Agora Energiewende* finds in a study. An ad-hoc investment programme could improve the transmission grid to the degree that less re-dispatch measures are necessary. The improvements would cover the time before the new “power transmission highways” SuedLink and SuedOstLink are completed in the mid 2020s. Agora Energiewende suggest measures such as a better monitoring of overhead lines as their transmission capacity depended on surrounding weather conditions. Standard assumptions about temperature and wind speeds currently fail to fully exploit the transmission lines’ potential, the study says.
Read the study in German here.
See the CLEW dossier The energy transition and Germany’s power grid for more information.
*Like the Clean Energy Wire, Agora Energiewende is a project funded by Stiftung Mercator and the European Climate Foundation.