09 Jan 2018

Fitting more power into the existing grid

Grid

Agora Energiewende

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.

All texts created by the Clean Energy Wire are available under a “Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY 4.0)” . They can be copied, shared and made publicly accessible by users so long as they give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made.

Fitting more power into the existing grid

Faulty planning by German utility to connect new power customers highlights grid expansion challenges

Germany’s hydrogen core grid needs clear funding rules to succeed – industry

Curtailing of renewable power increases in Germany in 2023 as re-dispatch costs recede

Saharan dust cuts solar power output in Germany

German economy ministry considers new instrument to stabilise electricity prices