US engineer Jacobs has picked Essen, Germany-headquartered consultancy DMT Group for two jobs on Germany’s “SuedLink” (SouthLink), a €10bn project to build a 700km-long underground cable to convey wind power from windy northern Germany to Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in the country’s less windy, populous south.
Billed as the longest underground power cable in the world, the 525kV direct power line is due to start operating in 2027, and will facilitate Germany’s ambition of achieving 80% renewable power by 2050.
It is one of three long-distance, high-voltage DC transmission lines planned to integrate renewable energy in Germany. Designated a “Project of Common Interest” by the European Union, it was set out in the Federal Requirements Plan Act in 2012.
Jacobs was appointed overall project manager of SuedLink in October 2019.
One of DMT’s jobs is to plan two support shafts needed to guide 16km of the cable through a mine in the Heilbronn district of northern Baden-Württemberg at a depth of 200m.
The other is to acquire the rights over land in Thuringia and Hesse. In a press note sent to GCR, DMT said this entails managing contracts for the construction and operation of SuedLink with various owners; negotiating compensation for rights and possible land damage; and making sure project operators can examine land under construction, lay cables, and carry out maintenance.
“SuedLink is of great significance to the future of renewable energy and our sustainable future,” said Diego Sancho Calderon, DMT’s deputy head of project management. “We are proud to be supporting Germany’s green energy transition and enabling the safe and reliable delivery of this important project.”
Image: A wind farm near Prenzlau in northern Germany (M.Minderhoud/CC BY-SA 3.0)
