Further progress in grid expansion: Bundesnetzagentur approves another SuedLink section in Bavaria
Year of issue 2025
Date of issue 2025.06.27
The Bundesnetzagentur has today completed the planning approval procedure for another section of the SuedLink power line. Projects 3 and 4 in the Federal Requirements Plan Act (BBPlG) run parallel to each other from the boundary between Thuringia and Bavaria to a point level with Oerlenbach. The exact routes of the new underground direct-current cables in this section have now been decided.
Routes
The cables for both projects will follow the same route south from the beginning of the section near Mellrichstadt, south of the boundary between Thuringia and Bavaria, down to a point level with Oerlenbach and will run mostly parallel to the A71 motorway. The route for project 3 then turns west and ends at the border between Schweinfurt and Bad Kissingen rural districts, where it joins up with section E1 of project 3, which is already under construction. The route for the section now approved is approximately 45 kilometres long. The route for project 4 continues south from Oerlenbach and ends at the Bergrheinfeld/West converter station. The route for this section of project 4 is around 62 kilometres long.
The Bundesnetzagentur is due to publish its planning approval decision on 26 July 2025 at www.netzausbau.de/vorhaben3-d2 and www.netzausbau.de/vorhaben4-d2.
The Bundesnetzagentur regularly updates the forecast on progress in electricity grid expansion and publishes the updates (in German) at www.netzausbau.de/prognose.
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.