Still not finished: There should have been a power line here by now. Prototypes for Suedlink underground cable in Göttingen
Image: dpa
The Berlin airport, the Elbphilharmonie, and now also the Suedlink power line: budgets and schedules often get out of control. There is another way.
Finally it should start. On Monday, Economics Minister Robert Habeck will travel to Wewelsfleth for the groundbreaking ceremony of what is perhaps the most important major infrastructure project in the energy transition. The first meters of the Suedlink power line are being built there, which will transport energy from the wind turbines in the north to the industrial regions in the south.
Alexander Wulfers
Editor in the economy of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.
Follow
I follow
The long history of the route is far from over. It has been in planning since the early 1900s. It was actually supposed to be finished in 2022, in time for the last nuclear power plants to be shut down. The Ministry of Economic Affairs called the new date of 2028 “ambitious” last year. So far, only the construction of 17.6 kilometers of pipeline has been approved – out of the planned 700. The costs are already estimated at ten billion euros.