Fourth north-south power line required in Germany – grid agency
Clean Energy Wire
A fourth high-voltage, direct-current line going from northern to southern Germany is required to enable the country’s planned transition to renewable energy, the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) has said. The BNetzA considers a power line running from Schleswig-Holstein to North Rhine-Westphalia necessary, although it has rejected the need to connect the line further south to Baden-Württemberg, as proposed by transmission system operators (TSOs). The grid agency’s analyses show that “all previous projects are still necessary” in order for Germany to succeed with its energy transition, said Vice President Peter Franke. He added that grid expansion measures will be necessary “even after a complete withdrawal from coal by 2038". In a draft development plan (NEP) for the power grid in Germany from 2019 to 2030, TSOs proposed the fourth major power line among 164 measures. The BNetzA reviewing all of these and opened up its preliminary results to public consultation.
The expansion of long-distance transmission lines is seen as one of the greatest obstacles to Germany reaching its target of increasing the share of renewables in power consumption to 65 percent by 2030. Three high-voltage power lines, the A-Nord, SuedLink and SuedOstLink, are already planned or under construction to transport wind energy from Germany’s north to the country’s industrial heartlands in the south and west.
