| | JANUARY8The war between Russia and Ukraine is a turning point for Europe and for the European energy supply system. The pressure to consistently restructure our energy system in Europe is growing ever stronger, and the shared search for solutions is more important than ever. To reduce the dependence on fossil fuel imports (at least in Germany) as quickly as possible and to implement the required climate protection measures at full speed, the build-out of renewable energy must be accelerated considerably. The goal of the German federal government is to cover at least 80 percent of Germany's power consumption with renewable energy by 2030. By 2035, this figure should be nearly 100 per cent ­ in other words, we have exactly 13 years left.As a transmission system operator (TSO), we play a key role here: We make it possible for the increasing volumes of renewable energy to be integrated into the system, making them available to society and industry. Due to the development of wind power in the North Sea, the demand for transport to the centres of population and industry is growing. Faster grid expansion is the order of the day. But even another 380 kV AC grid expansion (alternating current) does not by itself live up to this challenge either on a technical level or in terms of public acceptance. New concepts are therefore urgently needed for the integration of renewable energy. The following innovations in the transmission system grid are particularly promising:1. 525 kV DC cable technologyUntil recently, 320 kV DC cables (direct current) were still the state of the art. As a result, all offshore wind farms built so far in Germany are connected to the AC grid via corresponding converters and cables. Now the new German government intends to speed up the expansion of offshore wind farms in the North and Baltic Seas from the current 8,000 MW to 30,000 MW by 2030. The new 525 kV DC cable technology enables transmission capacities of 2 GW per system. The German TSOs are therefore planning to consistently use this technology for all newly approved offshore connection systems and onshore DC lines. This will allow a significant reduction in the number of required offshore grid connection systems compared with use of the established 320 kV Hoffmann PeterTRANSMISSIONINNOVATIONS IN THEBy Hoffmann Peter, Director Energy System Planning, TenneTIN MY OPINION
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