Bundesnetzagentur sets out route corridors around Osterath

Sections determined for A-Nord and Ultranet projects

Year of issue 2021
Date of issue 2021.06.07

The Bundesnetzagentur has determined route corridors for the Ultranet and A-Nord power lines. The two projects make up what is referred to as "Corridor A", with Osterath being the place where one line ends and the other one starts.

"We continue to move at pace on network expansion," said Jochen Homann, Bundesnetzagentur President. "We have made two important decisions in determining the A Nord and Ultranet sections."

The Bundesnetzagentur has defined a route corridor of about 102 km for the A Nord line, starting close to Borken, running south of Bocholt and crossing the Rhine near Rees. West of the Rhine the corridor runs from Uedem to Kerken and continues east of Kempen and north of Willich. South of Meerbusch-Osterath the route corridor reaches the two possible converter sites and the Osterath substation.

The section determined for Ultranet is about 30 km long and starts in Osterath before running south-west through Kaarst and Neuss. It ends in Bergheim at the Rommerskirchen substation. The route corridor connects to both possible converter sites in Osterath.

The decisions have been published at:
www.netzausbau.de/vorhaben1-d
www.netzausbau.de/vorhaben2-c

Next steps: planning approval procedure

Once the federal sectoral planning has been completed, the next step is the planning approval procedure. In this stage of the approval process, the exact route within the route corridor will be determined. During this process, there will be further comprehensive public participation. The Bundesnetzagentur expects the application for planning approval to be submitted in the third quarter of 2021.

Background

Together, the A Nord DC link and the Ultranet hybrid link to the south form the Corridor A DC link, which will help transport the continuously growing amount of wind energy from the north to the centre and south of Germany.

The A Nord line runs from Emden Ost to Osterath and will use underground cables with a capacity of up to 2 GW. It is planned to go into operation in 2025. The Ultranet project, which will use overhead lines, is the southern part of the corridor. It runs from Osterath to Philippsburg.

You can watch videos explaining the expansion of the electricity network at www.youtube.com/netzausbau.

Press release (pdf / 333 KB)

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