“The new plan for the power highways”

German transmission grid operators published their provisional route proposals for SuedLink and SuedOstLink, the direct current high-voltage power lines to connect Germany’s windy north with the power-hungry south. The routes were “not set in stone,” said 50Hertz’s CEO Boris Schucht, and the operators expected legal challenges to their proposals, according to newspaper Tagesspiegel. Due to protests by affected citizens, the federal government decided new direct current transmission lines should be laid predominantly underground. The Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) is now examining the proposals. Final routes will be decided by 2020 and construction finished by 2025, Tagesspiegel reports.

Find the press releases in German here and here, the Tagesspiegel article in German here and the BNetzA press release in German here.

For background read the CLEW factsheets Loop flows: Why is wind power from northern Germany putting east European grids under pressure? and Re-dispatch costs in the German power grid.