German transmission system operators 50Hertz, Amprion, TenneT and TransnetBW have submitted the first drafts of the onshore and offshore network expansion plans (NEP and O-NEP) covering the period up to 2035 to the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA).
The submission of the first drafts marks the start of a four-week public consultation process which ends on 28 February. The comments and feedback received during the period will be included in the second drafts of the plans.
The draft 2017 versions of the national German Network Development Plan for Electricity 2030 (Netzentwicklungsplan Strom, NEP) and the Offshore-Network Development Plan 2030 (Offshore-Netzentwicklungsplan, O-NEP), contain four scenarios, all based on the projections approved by the BNetzA on 30 June 2016.
Three scenarios have the year 2030 as the target year, with one scenario covering the period up to 2035.
Individual scenarios differ in how strongly and rapidly the energy turnovers take place with regard to the electricity generation mix, the electricity consumption as well as the penetration of innovative technologies, storage technologies and flexibility options.
All four scenarios project an increase in the importance of renewable energies, with onshore and offshore wind being the energy carrier with the largest share in the energy mix in.
With the O-NEP 2030, the transmission system operators are providing the fourth and final O-NEP for public consultation, which will subsequently be replaced by the so-called “surface development plan”. O-NEP 2030 combines reinforcements of existing lines with new constructions.
The three 2030 scenarios project that the German offshore grid connection system will be expanded by additional 2,300 kilometres of new connections and reach a total transmission capacity of 7.4GW. The investment needed for this upgrade is estimated at around EUR 16 billion.
The 2035 scenario projects 3,702 kilometers of new connections and an overall capacity of 11.4GW, with the investment reaching EUR 22 billion.