Germany marks progress on grid expansion to bring wind energy from north to south

Germany is making modest progess in installing new power lines to bring wind energy from the country’s windy northern coasts to its southern regions, with thousands of kilometres of new cables in the planning and approval stages, dpa reports in an article carried by Süddeutsche Zeitung. According to the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA), some 7,700 kilometres of power lines need to be built, or bolstered and upgraded to meet energy transition demands. Of these, about 1,300 km have been completed, while 1,700 km are currently in the planning process, another 3,100 in the approval process, and 800 have been approved or are being built, the article says. BNetzA head Jochen Homann cautioned said that the already high expectations for the energy transition overlapped with “a wealth of regional and sectorial special requests” and that the energy transition would only succeed as a “community effort.”

Grid expansion process has faced protests from local residents and state governments, who have launched legal challenges to the plans in some cases. The government plans to source 65 percent of power demand from renewables by 2030, which will require a more flexible electricity grid to cope with fluctuating production and demand.