Germany Plans €20 Billion Grid Upgrade

---

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) -- Germany will need to invest around €20 billion ($25 billion) to upgrade its electricity grid to support its shift away from nuclear power towards more renewable energy.

The country's four leading grid operators 50Hertz (Berlin, Germany), Amprion (Dortmund, Germany), TenneT TSO BV (Arnhem, Netherlands) and TransnetBW (Stuttgart, Germany) have collaborated on an upgrade plan for the country's electricity grid, which was requested by the government. The costly overhaul is seen as essential to Germany being able to fill a looming power vacuum following the government's shock decision last year to abandon nuclear power, following the tragic disaster at Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant (NPP). For additional information, see May 30, 2011, article - Germany Votes to Dump Nuclear Power.

The plan involves upgrading thousands of kilometers (Km) of existing transmission lines as well as the construction of 4,400Km of new high-voltage lines that will be used to help harness the growing amount of offshore wind power planned in the German North Sea. The government is expected to pass the grid expansion law by the end of this year and the expansion work is expected to be carried out between 2013 and 2022.

"The nuclear phase-out and the increased supply of renewable energy are major challenges for the current infrastructure and require further development of the networks," the grid operators said in a joint statement. They added that the €20 billion price tag for grid improvements represents "a fraction of the cost of the energy transition, but much success depends on their implementation."

"It is crucial that we bring together the expansion of renewable energies and power grids," said Chancellor, Angela Merkel.

Jochen Homann, president of Germany's network regulator, Bundesnetzagentur (Bonn, Germany), added: "The network development plan is a key step in the implementation of energy policy. Without reconstructing the power grids, the advances made in renewable energy will be futile. We want to accelerate the transition to renewable energy and, potentially, involve the whole of society in this process. Concerned authorities, organisations and citizens can participate in every step."

Today, much of Germany's current and future wind-based power is based in northern Germany, while southern Germany is the country's industrial heart. The grid connecting both halves of the country is unable to deal with the fluctuating nature of renewable energy with many wind turbines having to be disconnected from the grid on windy days to maintain stability.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, and eight offices outside of North America, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.