EU urges Germany to make progress on key transmission lines

The European Commission pressures Germany to make progress on expanding its power transmission grid and the important north-south SuedLink and SuedOstLink power lines, Michael Bauchmüller and Thomas Kirchner write in the Süddeutsche Zeitung. The 700-kilometre lines are designed to deliver renewable power from Germany’s windy north to industrial centres in the south. They are meant to prevent the system from shutting down wind turbines in periods  of excess power production, and to avoid having to fall back on conventional plants because wind power cannot reach the south. The Commission has identified the power lines that are slated for completion by 2025 as a “project of common European interest”, which allows Germany to draw on EU funds to cover construction costs and to benefit from quicker licensing procedures, the authors say. Germany’s Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) says that preparations continue “according to plan”, but given the sustained resistance to the massive infrastructure project by affected residents, completion by 2025 might turn out to be “an optimistic target”, the authors write.

See the CLEW dossier The energy transition and Germany’s power grid for background.