Grid expansion shows significant acceleration
Klaus Müller: "Number of approved kilometres increases significantly"
Year of issue 2023
Date of issue 2023.12.27
This year the Bundesnetzagentur has approved around 600 kilometres (km) of power lines. Work on around 400 additional kilometres of lines can begin immediately thanks to legislation that has been passed to accelerate the approval process. The transmission system operators (TSOs) can now begin the construction of 1,000 km of power lines.
"The acceleration is proving to be effective: 2023 has seen a considerable increase in the number of examined power line kilometres. We assume that we will see much greater progress in the years ahead. By 2025 we want to have completed a significant portion of the approval procedures that we are currently processing,"
said Klaus Müller, President of the Bundesnetzagentur.
Great progress in the approval procedures
Currently around 14,000 km of lines have been legally decided on for expanding the electricity grid. The Bundesnetzagentur is responsible for examining and approving around 7,400 km. The remainder is processed by the respective federal states.
In what is referred to as federal sectoral planning, the Bundesnetzagentur approved route corridors this year for 200 km of power lines. Federal sectoral planning for about another 700 km is not necessary thanks to legislation to accelerate the approval process. This will also be possible for future direct current lines. Thus at the end of 2023 around 4,600 km of power lines are either in or headed for a planning approval procedure at the Bundesnetzagentur.
In the course of the planning approval procedure the Bundesnetzagentur determines the exact route of the power lines. For around 1,300 km the planning approval has been completed or is no longer required due to legal changes. These power lines can be built.
In addition to the completed planning approval procedures, the Bundesnetzagentur has also issued notices that make it possible to start early on construction on numerous power line routes. Construction sites were set up on all four direct current corridors.
The Bundesnetzagentur plans to authorise a total of around 2,800 km of lines by the end of 2024. By the end of 2025 a total of 4,400 km of lines should be approved.
Further information on electricity grid expansion
The Bundesnetzagentur regularly updates the forecast on progress in electricity grid expansion and publishes the updates at www.netzausbau.de/netzausbauprognose.
Information on the individual projects is available online at www.netzausbau.de/vorhaben (in German).