The state government’s demand for an additional electricity highway from northern Germany to Bavaria was apparently already outdated when Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger (Free Voters) presented it publicly on Tuesday. As the network operator Tennet, which is responsible for most of the electricity network in Bavaria, told the SZ, the current draft of the electricity network development plan foresees such an electricity highway from northern Germany to Lower Franconia for the years up to 2037 and 2045. It should therefore branch off into the Main-Spessart district as a short branch from a new electricity highway to Baden-Württemberg, which was planned in the network development plan from the start.
The draft of the electricity network development plan until 2037 and 2045 with the electricity highway from northern Germany to Baden-Württemberg and the branch from it to Bavaria is currently being presented by the network operators in various forums. Aiwanger presented the state government’s demand for an additional high-voltage direct current transmission line for Bavaria, as such an electricity highway is officially called, after the cabinet meeting on Tuesday and combined it with an attack on the President of the Federal Network Agency, Klaus Müller. Müller is a “green party supporter,” said Aiwanger, “and he may have a different idea on many issues than the Free State of Bavaria has.”
As Tennet now explained, the network operators had already received a number of statements in the summer, including one from the state government, which had pointed out immense future electricity needs in southern Germany. The option was then created to be able to upgrade the two electricity highways to Baden-Württemberg and the one to Saxony, which are provided for in the paper. The Federal Network Agency then decided to double the capacity of one to Baden-Württemberg and one to Saxony. According to Tennet, this has given rise to the possibility of branching off to Bavaria on the electricity highway to Baden-Württemberg. So far, two electricity highways are planned to Bavaria, the Südlink and the Südostlink. Aiwanger was one of the most staunch opponents of the projects for many years.