Grid expansion projects in Schleswig-Holstein Challenges for planning and communication to accelerate the expansion of the power grid

The energy transition, together with the necessary grid expansion, will permanently change the landscape of Schleswig-Holstein. Openness and consensus-building in the planning processes can make the changes more bearable for the population. Can this be integrated into the formalised German planning system, in which participation is regularly limited to comment, consideration and, if necessary, the possibility of legal action?

The grid expansion project consists of a large number of building blocks that together create a new planning culture and accelerate the expansion of the electricity grid in Schleswig-Holstein. It comprises planning and communication steps adapted to the respective requirements. In addition to the specific project design of the individual projects, a key component is the coordination between a large number of sub-projects. In this context, not only technical challenges of a new network structure have to be mastered, but also new forms of planning culture have to be integrated in order to meet the increased requirements of public participation. The aim is to achieve a basic consensus on the necessity of grid expansion, which will lead to increased acceptance of grid expansion on the future construction routes. Schleswig-Holstein is on a good path with the significant participation of landscape architects, which can serve as a model for other federal states.

In Schleswig-Holstein, considerably less than 100 km of high-voltage and extra-high-voltage lines have been approved and built in the last 10 years. In some cases, the approval process took almost 10 years and projects had to go through time-consuming legal proceedings before they could be built and put into operation.
Therefore, a significant acceleration is necessary in order to achieve the goal of expanding approx. 600 km of new extra-high voltage lines by 2022. The projects presented are intended to make a significant contribution and can already demonstrate initial successes.
The first projects have already been put into operation and the planning lead time for further projects has been significantly shortened. At the same time, the public was informed so extensively before the start of the formal procedure that solutions adapted in detail were found and unnecessary project resistance was eliminated.