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FRIEDRICH VORWEK Group wins the major contract for cable laying and cable logistics for the planned high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) transmission line SuedLink. The order has a total volume of more than €80 million and will be realized by a joint venture consisting in equal parts of VORWERK power specialist Bohlen & Doyen Bau GmbH and ea.R Energieanlagen Ramonat GmbH, a market leading expert for the installation of underground high-voltage cable systems. FRIEDRICH VORWERK thus once again demonstrates its excellent positioning in the fast-growing electricity sector and will become a key contributor to one of the most important energy infrastructure pilot projects in Europe.

The new SuedLink transmission line jointly planned by the Transmission System Operators (TSOs) TenneT and TransnetBW is considered a key grid expansion project for a successful energy transition in Germany. The approximately 700-km-long electricity highway will bundle the green hydropower transported from Norway and transport it to the main consumer centers in the south of the country. As such, the SuedLink project makes an important contribution to ensuring a secured and decarbonized power supply in Germany. The contract was awarded by the turnkey cable system provider NKT and includes cable laying and last-mile cable logistics along almost the entire route from the Brunsbüttel converter station in Schleswig-Holstein to Großgartach in Baden-Württemberg.

Against the background of the new German government's comprehensive electrification plans for transport, industry and buildings, electricity consumption is expected to double by 2045. At the same time, renewable energies are being massively expanded to bridge the gap created by the ongoing nuclear and coal phase-out. To prepare the already heavily congested transmission network for this transition, the German electricity infrastructure is facing an unprecedented investment program. The current Grid Development Plan 2035 (2021) envisages an investment volume of up to €79 billion over the planning period, a large proportion of which is earmarked for expanding north-south transmission capacity through new electricity highways. Since 2015, all new HVDC transmission lines are required to be realized as underground cable lines by law. In addition to cable laying and logistics, this results in substantial project volumes in the area of underground cable line construction (incl. HD drilling), which are put out to tender separately. Based on its broad service and technology portfolio and decades of experience in power cable construction, FRIEDRICH VORWERK hence expects demand in this area to grow strongly in the future.

 (May 2022)