Operators recommend building or upgrading 4,500 km of power grids - report

Germany’s grid operators recommend building 1,600 kilometres of additional transmission lines and upgrading a further 2,900 kilometres in response to the country’s renewable roll-out and developments in the European power market, reports Jakob Schlandt in the Tagesspiegel. The plans, which are set to be tabled officially on Monday, include the “central large-scale project” of laying two additional direct current underground cables with a combined length of 1,160 kilometres from the windy north of the country to the power-hungry south, writes Schlandt, who has already seen the “Grid Development Plan 2030” by operators TenneT, TransnetBW, 50Hertz and Amprion.

The new plans could significantly push up the expected costs for grid expansion to around 52 billion euros from around 35 billion euros estimated two years ago, says the article. Economist Andreas Löschel, who heads the official expert commission tasked with monitoring the energy transition’s progress, told Tagesspiegel the new powerlines are definitely necessary in the longer term, adding the process in place to extent the grid was “reasonable overall.”