Planning review starts for 500km German grid expansion

German TSO Amprion has selected engineering consultancies Arcadis and ILF Beratende Ingenieure GmbH to undertake the initial phases of route planning for the 500km long Rhein-Main-Link energy route, one of Germany’s key grid expansion projects.

The Arcadis/ILF consortium will support Amprion by conducting a technical planning review and providing route planning services for the Federal Network Agency’s preliminary preference area.

The Rhein-Main-Link will serve as an underground cable connection, an upgrade to the existing grid system, to transmit electricity from offshore wind farms located in the North Sea to the energy-intensive Rhein-Main metropolitan region, housing 5.8 million residents.

The announcement comes in response to Germany’s requirement for supra-regional direct current connections to distribute electricity generated from renewable sources.

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The Rhein-Main Link consolidates four links outlined in the 2037/2045 Electricity Network Development Plan into a single project. This consolidation is designed to accommodate the anticipated surge in energy demand in the Rhein-Main metropolitan region over the coming years.

The initiative also aims to streamline and expedite the planning and approval process for grid expansion projects, aligning with sections 19 and 21 of the German Grid Expansion Acceleration Act (NABEG).

The 2037/2045 Electricity Grid Development Plan, jointly published by Germany‘s four transmission system operators – 50Hertz, Amprion, TenneT, and TransnetBW – envisages four direct current links in one route for the project.

This will bring a combined wind energy output of around 8GW from the North Sea to southern Hesse.

The total investment for the four links is estimated at several billion euros.

Completion of the application for planning approval is scheduled for June 2024, with final route planning in March 2028. The first link to the Rhein-Main region is scheduled to go into operation in 2033.

Originally published on smart-energy.com