Operators recommend building or upgrading 4,500 km of power grids - report
Tagesspiegel
Germany鈥檚 grid operators recommend building 1,600 kilometres of additional transmission lines and upgrading a further 2,900 kilometres in response to the country鈥檚 renewable roll-out and developments in the European power market, reports聽. The plans, which are set to be tabled officially on Monday, include the 鈥渃entral large-scale project鈥 of laying two additional direct current underground cables with a combined length of 1,160 kilometres from the windy north of the country to the power-hungry south, writes Schlandt, who has already seen the 鈥淕rid Development Plan 2030鈥 by operators TenneT, TransnetBW, 50Hertz and Amprion.
The new plans could significantly push up the expected costs for grid expansion to around 52 billion euros from around 35 billion euros estimated two years ago, says the article. Economist Andreas L枚schel, who heads the official expert commission tasked with monitoring the energy transition鈥檚 progress, told Tagesspiegel the new powerlines are definitely necessary in the longer term, adding the process in place to extent the grid was 鈥渞easonable overall.鈥