GLÜCKSTADT (dpa-AFX) – The cables of the Suedlink power line are to cross the Elbe near Glückstadt in a tunnel in a few years. The managing director of the company Tennet, Tim Meyerjürgens, handed over the planning approval documents to the energy ministers of Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony, Tobias Goldschmidt and Olaf Lies. The tunnel is to run at a depth of around 20 meters between the towns of Wewelsfleth in the Schleswig-Holstein district of Steinburg and Wischhafen in the Lower Saxony district of Stade and be a good five kilometers long.
According to the announcement, Goldschmidt spoke of one of the central power line projects. “Once in operation, it can become a real game changer for the German energy transition.” The global political situation underscores the urgency. “Liberation from the grip of fossil fuels will only succeed if the expansion of renewables and the power grid progresses rapidly,” stressed the minister. Lies said that the north plays a key role in climate-friendly energy supply and in the goal of becoming independent of Russian gas supplies as quickly as possible. “We take responsibility for the whole of Germany.” The handover is an important signal that encourages.
According to Tennet, the tunnel will be drilled by a machine and lined with prefabricated concrete rings (tubbings). The fourth tube of the Elbe motorway tunnel in Hamburg was also built using this method. The tunnel will have a diameter of four meters. Access and service buildings are being built at both ends. Tennet expects five years of construction.
According to Tennet, the Suedlink route is 700 kilometers long and costs ten billion euros, making it the largest energy transition infrastructure project in Germany. It should enable low-loss direct current transport from the wind energy areas in northern Germany to the south. The line has a capacity of four gigawatts, which corresponds to the output of four nuclear power plants and would theoretically be enough to supply ten million households./moe/DP/stk