RWE Transportnetz Strom, RWE’s extra-high voltage grid company, has submitted a report to Germany’s Federal Network Agency containing plans to invest EUR 3 billion in expanding its grid over the next ten years.
The company, which is responsible for RWE’s 11 000 km of EHV lines in Germany, is to beef up its grid with new power lines, transformer plants and substations in order to meet future grid requirements.
The investment is needed to meet the demands of expanding wind power capacity as well as expansion of pan-European trading in a liberalised market, says RWE. It plans to add 800 km of new power lines and 25 transformer plants.
“With these billions of investments, we are making our grid fit for the future”, said Dr Klaus Kleinekorte, Managing Director of RWE Transportnetz Strom. “We are facing up to the challenges placed on our grid by the growth in wind energy generation, the addition of new power plants and intensive power trading across Europe.”
The company will also expand and restructure numerous existing transformer plants, substations and power lines.
RWE Transportnetz Strom is a major player in Europe’s electricity transmission system, owning Germany’s longest extra-high voltage grid and with overall responsibility for the coordination of Germany’s interconnected system. It also coordinates the UCTE system’s northern section including Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Romania, the Slovakian Republic, the Czech Republic and Hungary.
“If we want to maintain the high security of supply we enjoy today, the transmission grid needs substantial expansion. Because of its situation in central Europe, our grid in particular plays a significant role as an important pivotal point for European power trading between north and south and between east and west,” added Kleinekorte.
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