Steps towards grid expansion

Expansion of the grid will be carried out in several stages in accordance with the legal basis and in dialogue with the public at large. Information, ideas and comments from the citizens will be collected and incorporated into the decision-making process at every stage.

The responsibilities as well as the individual stages for determining demand and planning grid expansion are laid down in the Energy Industry Act (EnWG) and, for projects that cross federal-state or national borders, in the Grid Expansion Acceleration Act (NABEG):

1. The Scenario Framework maps future scenarios for energy demand and generation.

2. The Network Development Plan uses this information to determine the requirements for the expansion or new construction of power lines.

3. The Federal Requirements Plan defines the projects required to secure the power supply.

4. Federal Sectoral Planning or Regional Planning lays down a rough route – what’s known as the “corridor”.

5. In the Planning Approval Proceedings, the actual route within the corridor is determined by the planning approval decision.

6. Like planning permission, i.e. a building permit, the planning approval decision grants authorisation to execute a power line construction project.

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