Further progress in grid expansion: Bundesnetzagentur approves two further sections of the SuedLink power line
Year of issue 2025
Date of issue 2025.05.28
The Bundesnetzagentur has today completed the planning approval procedures for two more sections of the SuedLink power line. Tennet and TransnetBW, the transmission system operators responsible for the project, now have full approval for the reconstruction of the line. Most of the cables will be laid underground.
Route between Brunsbüttel/Wilster and Wewelsfleth
This section is where the SuedLink power line starts. Projects 3 and 4 in the Federal Requirements Plan Act (BBPlG) start off with different routes, converge at a point within the approved section and then run parallel for the rest of the section, as they do along most of the SuedLink route.
The whole section is in Schleswig-Holstein. The approved routes for the two lines are about 14 and 8 kilometres long. The cables will mostly run underground, with a short stretch of overhead line to connect the Brunsbüttel converter to the Brunsbüttel transformer station as the grid connection point. The route for Project 3 begins at the grid connection point at the Brunsbüttel transformer station. It first runs east through Brunsbüttel and Büttel to St. Margarethen. It passes St. Margarethen to the north and runs east to Siethwende, where it turns south towards Brokdorf. The section ends north of the B431 federal road in Wewelsfleth, west of Großwisch.
The approved route for Project 4 begins at the grid connection point at the Wilster transformer station and runs south to Brokdorf. It ends at the same place as the section of Project 3, north of the B431.
The Bundesnetzagentur is due to publish its planning approval decision (in German) on 16 June 2025 at: www.netzausbau.de/vorhaben3-a1 and www.netzausbau.de/vorhaben4-a1.
Route between Edemissen/Strodthagen and the Lower Saxony/Hesse border
This section of the line runs from near Einbeck to the federal state border between Lower Saxony and Hesse near Friedland. The route begins between Edemissen and Strodthagen near Einbeck. The whole length of this section essentially runs from north to south, starting in southern Lower Saxony between Edemissen and Strodthagen, south of Einbeck, and ending at the border between Lower Saxony and Hesse west of Friedland. The line will pass underneath the high-speed train route and the A7 motorway near Rosdorf, south of Göttingen.
The Bundesnetzagentur is due to publish its planning approval decision (in German) on 27 June 2025 at: www.netzausbau.de/vorhaben3-c1 and www.netzausbau.de/vorhaben4-c1.
The Bundesnetzagentur regularly updates the forecast on progress in electricity grid expansion and publishes the updates (in German) at www.netzausbau.de/prognose.
The SuedLink power line as the backbone of the energy transition
The SuedLink power line consists of two direct-current lines. Project 3 connects Brunsbüttel in Schleswig-Holstein with Großgartach/Leingarten in Baden-Württemberg. Project 4 runs from Wilster to Bergrheinfeld in Bavaria. The two lines will be laid as underground cables and run mostly parallel to each other. TenneT and TransnetBW are the transmission system operators responsible for planning, constructing and operating the lines.