Billion dollar project
Network agency is planning new electricity highways
March 1, 2024, 5:35 p.m
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The expansion of the electricity transmission network plays an important role in the energy transition. Climate-neutrally generated electricity should be transported wherever it is needed. The Federal Network Agency is now determining what the expansion must look like.
The Federal Network Agency has presented new plans for the expansion of the electricity transmission network, the so-called electricity highways. According to this, five new direct current connections with a capacity of two gigawatts each are planned on land. Three of them run in a north-south direction, two in an east-west direction. Further lines are also planned to connect offshore wind farms as well as substations and switchgear.
According to the authority, the so-called electricity network development plan 2023-2037/2045 (NEP Electricity) determines the urgent need for expansion in the electricity transmission network. This was preceded by a months-long process in which all interest groups and the public had the opportunity to comment. The plan that has now been “confirmed” by the Federal Network Agency serves as the basis for a new version of the so-called federal requirements plan, which will be enshrined in a law.
The authority put the total costs of all planned expansion measures up to 2045 at around 320 billion euros. All costs are usually passed on to all electricity consumers via the network fees. “All costs are written off over decades, so only correspondingly lower proportions are included in the network fees each year,” explained a spokeswoman.
Müller: “Power grid for the energy transition”
The expansion of the so-called high-voltage network is about new lines bringing climate-neutral electricity to where it is needed – especially from the north to the south. The plan describes which transmission network is necessary to completely convert the energy system to renewable energies by 2045. In the regions, electricity distribution networks with lower voltages then take over the energy supplied by the “electricity highways” and direct it to the points of consumption. “This network development plan shows for the first time which power network we need to complete the energy transition,” explained authority President Klaus Müller, according to a statement.
All projects proposed by the four transmission system operators were carefully examined. “For a climate-neutral electricity system, we need a significant amount of additional power lines by 2045,” he emphasized. Only the start and end points of the lines were defined in the network development plan. “The exact route of the lines has not yet been determined, but will be determined in subsequent process steps.” For the expansion on land, the new NEP Electricity includes around 4,800 kilometers of new lines and around 2,500 kilometers of reinforcement of existing connections compared to the existing federal requirements plan. The five new lines, so-called high-voltage direct current transmission connections (HVDC), are to be called DC32 from Schleswig-Holstein to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, from Lower Saxony to Hesse (DC35), from Lower Saxony to Saxony (DC40), from Lower Saxony to Baden-Württemberg (DC41) and from Schleswig-Holstein to Baden-Württemberg (DC42).
Additional line needed to supply Bavaria
There will also be two more HVDC connections as extensions of two projects. They are called DC40plus and DC42plus and are also said to have an output of two gigawatts each. The new NEP also contains 116 additional AC connections compared to the current federal requirements plan. The expansion of the transmission network will help reduce the high costs of congestion measures in the medium to long term because more electricity can be transported from the generation to the consumption centers, the four network operators explained in a joint statement. The Federal Network Agency also includes a project called P540 that envisages an alternating current line between Thuringia and Bavaria.
Their calculations showed that additional transmission capacities would be needed to supply Bavaria. The transmission system operators therefore submitted the project later. According to its own information, the Federal Network Agency is preparing an environmental report on the federal requirements plan, which includes the expected environmental impacts of the projects. The release is scheduled for the end of May. In the network development plan, the four transmission system operators Amprion, TransnetBW, 50Hertz and Tennet determine every two years which measures are necessary for reliable network operation. By the end of June they will present a first draft for the next NEP 2025, which again looks at the years 2037 and 2045.