The German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) announces good news in the expansion of the power grid for renewable electricity. At a meeting of federal and state energy ministers in early May 2020, developments and the current status of the expansion of the transmission grid were presented. According to the BMWi, by the end of 2019, more than half of the total 65 grid expansion projects planned since 2009 had already been put into operation. Another third have also been completed and are about to be commissioned. In addition, the plan is to complete around 90 percent of the construction projects by the end of 2020 and to put most of them into operation.
The background to the undertakings is that, as part of the energy turnaround, sufficient functional power lines must be made available to transport the energy supply with the growing share of renewable energies from the electricity producers to the consumers. In the field of wind energy, for example, the expansion of the "SuedOstLinks," a major north-south electricity highway, is of great importance. This is because most of Germany's wind energy is produced in the north, in Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony. However, the largest electricity consumers and users are mainly large industrial companies located in the south and west of Germany.
Each of the 65 projects consists of three phases: the regional planning and federal sectoral planning procedure, the planning approval procedure and the construction phase. The legal basis for construction is based on the Energy Line Expansion Act (EnLAG) and the Federal Requirements Plan Act (BBPIG). According to the BMWi, even after completion of the grid expansion projects, work must continue on the expansion of the grid routes for the transport of renewable electricity.
Source: BMWi
© photodune.net
