The network operator Amprion has proposed a specific route corridor for a new electricity highway from Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein to the Ruhr area.

The one kilometer wide corridor of the direct current connection is to be submitted to the Federal Network Agency in September together with alternatives, as Amprion announced on Wednesday.

The proposed corridor forms the basis for the underground cable route to be built, which should be between 40 and 60 meters wide.

Approval for the basic route should be available by 2025.

The electricity highway, the so-called Corridor B, was laid down in the Federal Requirements Plan Act in 2021 in order to advance the energy transition.

"We bring the wind power from the North Sea down to the Ruhr area, where there are now coal-fired power plants," explained Amprion overall project manager Arndt Feldmann.

The total capacity of the lines, four gigawatts, is sufficient to replace five coal-fired power plants from the early 1930s.

Past bogs and residential areas

The system consists of two sections: an approximately 440-kilometer section from Heide in Schleswig-Holstein to Marl in North Rhine-Westphalia and an approximately 270-kilometer section from Wilhelmshaven in Lower Saxony to Hamm.

Both sections intersect and meet in the route now proposed by Amprion north of Cloppenburg and then run parallel for 62 kilometres.

Among other things, care was taken to avoid moor areas, protected areas and settlements during the course, said Amprion project manager Dirk Hensen.

Amprion now wants to discuss the proposed route with citizens, associations and authorities at events in the regions.

A total of 710 kilometers of cable are to be laid for the seven billion euro project.

In addition, empty pipes are being laid through which further cables with an additional capacity of four gigawatts could be laid in the future.