Large power pylons for high-voltage lines are not attractive. That is why underground cables have been preferred for the construction of long-distance lines for several years. There is resistance because of the high costs.
In the dispute over the construction of three large power lines for the transport of wind power, the FDP parliamentary group is advocating a switch from the underground cabling previously required by law to overhead lines.
“As Free Democrats, we want to expand the network with more overhead lines, as this will be cheaper, faster and involve fewer interventions,” said Michael Kruse, energy policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group, to the “Welt am Sonntag” newspaper. Underground cables should only be used where overhead lines are not reasonable, for example in the immediate vicinity of residential buildings.
Lower Saxony wants to continue underground cables
“Over 35 billion euros in network fees can be saved this way,” said Kruse. The fact that the SPD and the Greens in state governments are fighting for a particularly complex and expensive network expansion is “a blackout for the interests of electricity consumers and a setback for the industrial location.” Lower Saxony, which is governed by the red-green coalition and through whose territory part of the routes run, insists on underground cabling.
The Bundestag and Bundesrat currently have applications in which the CDU/CSU and the federal states of Saxony and Baden-Württemberg are advocating for the weakening of the priority given to underground cabling in the construction of high-voltage power lines, which has been in force since 2016. Specifically, this concerns the three major projects North-West Link, South-West Link and East-West Link, which are intended to transport wind power from the north to the south and east of Germany.
Source: Stern
