Contract awarded for major transmission project in Germany

NKT GmbH & Co KG has been awarded a large turnkey contract by the German transmission system operator 50Hertz. The contract comprises supply and installation of 525 kV XLPE high-voltage DC (direct current) onshore cable solution for a significant portion of the SuedOstLink transmission line in route lengths of approx. 275 km.  

NKT will work in the project in partnership with Prysmian PowerLink Srl. NKT will be in charge of the northern part that is covered by the project which consists of Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Saxony. Prysmian will take responsibility for the Bavarian section under a EUR500 million (US$541.66 million) contract.

SuedOstLink will be the world’s first large commercial 525 kV XLPE high-voltage DC 2GW transmission line and it forms part of the so-called German corridor projects aiming to significantly increase renewable energy supply in the country. NKT has a strong footprint in Germany, with facilities in Cologne, Nordenham, and Berlin and is therefore ideally located to supply and install the needed solutions for these large corridor projects. 

The 525 kV XLPE high-voltage DC cable solution to be delivered by NKT for SuedOstLink comprises three lots of a total of five, which constitutes the full cable part of the project. NKT expects to start production of the high-voltage DC power cables and accessories end-2021 with installation in mid-2022 and with final completion in 2025.

SuedOstLink is the first of three long-distance power transmission lines in Germany to transport renewable energy from the Northern parts of the country to the South. These transmissions lines are often referred to as the HVDC corridor projects covering a large proportion of the country and they are key to realize the ‘Energiewende’, Germany’s long-term strategy for switching to renewable energies by 2050. The SuedOstLink 2 GW transmission line will link the federal states of Saxony-Anhalt and Bavaria and is expected to be commissioned by 2025.