In the late 1990s, Hermann Albers, president of the German Wind Energy Association, was already pointing out that existing networks would not manage to accommodate
the growing supply of green power. “Instead of taking action, grid operators began
new planning, much too late because they didn’t believe in the success of renewables”, he frequently complained. In early 2005, Albers could feel that his complaints
were vindicated.
At that time, the semi-public German Energy Agency published its first study of the power grid, citing a figure which generated great interest and was highly criticised. For Germany to achieve a 20 percent share of green energy in its gross electricity consumption by the end of 2020 – a goal that the wind industry saw as much too low – an additional 1,250 kilometres of high-voltage lines alone would have to be installed by that time.
The looming dilemma in grid expansion even called politicians into action, albeit with delay. Germany’s Power Grid Expansion Act (EnLAG) entered into force in the summer of 2009. It was supposed to accelerate 24 really important new projects to build an overall volume of slightly more than 1,800 kilometres of high-voltage lines. But by the end of 2015, only 614 kilometres had been installed, barely 35 percent of the goal. No wonder Jochen Homann, president of the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) in Bonn since March 2012, assessed the situation as “disappointing”.
