Europe’s leading cable system manufacturers, represented through Europacable, deplore the U-Turn on HVDC undergrounding as presented last week by the German Government. The proposal, if adopted, will withdraw the priority granted for undergrounding of HVDC power lines in Germany as per legislation introduced in 2015. This decision will undermine investment decisions made in Germany and across Europe by our industry to meet projected cable demand. It also risks to – again – substantially delay Germany’s future grid expansions due to lack of public acceptance of future overhead lines. Costs resulting from this delay will be considerable.
Flashback: In 2015, after failing for years to find acceptable routes for its “corridor projects”, Germany introduced a legislation which gave priority to undergrounding for future HVDC projects. This decision allowed for cutting edge innovative cable technology developed and produced in Europe, to help overcome the challenges of public acceptance of these necessary large scale infrastructure investments. With this decision, German placed itself at the technological forefront of Europe’s decarbonisation.
The European cable industry reacted swiftly by investing considerably and enlarging its production capacity of cutting edge 525kV HVDC underground cables in Germany and across Europe. Cable production started in 2021 and since 2024 cables are being delivered and installed at sites across Germany. Projects are on schedule to be finalised by the end of 2028. The U-turn proposed now undermines the investments made by Europe’s leading cable manufacturers for innovative, high-tech cables made Europe for Europe.
Initial investment costs borne by operators for underground cables are higher than for overhead lines due to the higher complexity of the cable compared to the bare overheadline conductor and due to the higher civil work efforts. This said, a Study by Frontier Economics published last month confirms that the costs for Germany continuing with underground cabling would merely amount to 0.1 cents per kWh. The Study, commissioned by NKT and Prysmian, highlights that any delay in the construction of the future specific projects planned in Germany (DC42/42+) will cause redispatch costs of 180 to 190 million euros per year. In times of reoccurring, fundamental energy supply crises Europe, it is these costs of delays that Germany and Europe cannot afford.
Europacable, supporting its partners in Germany, is looking at Germany’s co-legislators to correct the proposal to secure investments made by our industry and to ensure a timely grid build out through cables in Germany where socially, environmentally and economically viable – rather than shutting a door to innovative high-tech cables made in Europe for Europe.
Please click here for the joint position paper.