The construction, expansion and conversion of electricity lines are infrastructural measures that affect many interested parties, like agriculture and nature conservation. That is why the legislator has clearly arranged the processes for the planning and approval, for example in the German Energy Industry Act (Energiewirtschaftsgesetz). The Ostwind 3 grid connection project was first confirmed in the draft area development plan 2020 (Flächenentwicklungsplan, FDP) according to the stipulations of the German offshore wind energy act (Windenergie-auf-See-Gesetz, WindSeeG) as well as in the grid development plan for electricity 2030 (GDP 2019-2030) and continuously since then. Ostwind 3 is divided into three approval sections, for which separate permits need to be obtained.
Permits for offshore route and offshore substation
The submarine cable runs through different areas of competence of permitting and specialist authorities. For the German Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the Baltic Sea, the federal government and therefore the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (Bundesamt für Seeschiffahrt und Hydrographie, BSH) is the competent permitting authority. The EEZ is the area beyond the coastal waters (12 nautical mile zone) up to a theoretical maximum of 200 nautical miles. The planning approval procedure (Planfeststellungsverfahren, PFV) for the EEZ will cover the route section and offshore substation located there. In the German EEZ, offshore substations must furthermore undergo a multilevel certification process of the BSH. This leads to the fourth and final approval - the approval for operation. The Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency specifies the exact location of the offshore substation within the wind farm Windanker. At a water depth of 42.7 metres, 50Hertz will for the first time plan, construct and operate the offshore substation itself as the project developer. Here you can find more information about the construction method.
The offshore route runs from the German Exclusive Economic Zone to the coastal waters. For the coastal waters, the federal states (in this case, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania) are competent. For the submarine cable in the coastal waters, a planning approval procedure (PFV) is also required. The competent authority is the Ministry of Economics, Infrastructure, Tourism and Labour of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
In order to minimise the impact on the environment, it is important to keep the length of the cable as short as possible and to bundle the new route with other lines. For this reason, 50Hertz is planning to install the submarine cable system as much in parallel as possible with the existing lines of projects Ostwind 1 and 2. In 2015, the formerly Ministry for Energy, Infrastructure and Digitalisation of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (today Ministry of Economy, Infrastructure, Tourism and Labour) issued the planning approval decision for each of the three submarine cable systems of Ostwind 1 and Ostwind 2 in the coastal waters.
As the Ostwind 3 submarine cable system will mostly run parallel to the other grid connection systems (Ostwind 1 and 2), 50Hertz has demonstrated to the Ministry of Economics, Infrastructure, Tourism and Labour of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania that the land use aspects are respected and that a spatial planning procedure is therefore not required. If necessary, the spatial planning interests can be adequately handled in the planning approval procedure.
The planning approval procedure is a detailed permit review in which the building permit for the project is issued as well. Simply put, the planning approval procedure primarily deals with the “how” of the construction project (specification of the location, structures, technical implementation). During the permit procedure, the public is formally involved in accordance with the legal requirements. 50Hertz supports this with informal public participation, also known as citizen dialogue. Citizen dialogue builds on 50Hertz's own experiences, not on legal stipulations. This difference is important, as the citizen dialogue ends where the formal public participation laid down by law begins (see also Transparency and public participation).
Permit for the offshore substation
The electricity that is generated offshore by the future offshore wind farm is collected at the offshore substation and brought to the mainland by means of a submarine cable of 220 kilovolt alternating current.
For the first time, 50Hertz is planning, applying for and constructing an offshore substation itself as project developer. The permit process is part of the planning approval procedure for the submarine cable in the German Exclusive Economic Zone. The Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie, BSH) is competent for the permit. In the German Exclusive Economic Zone, offshore substations must furthermore undergo a multilevel certification process of the BSH. This leads to the fourth and final approval - the approval for operation.
In principle, the planning approval decision contains a number of ancillary provisions to ensure that the construction and operation do not adversely affect the safety of the marine environment as well as ship and air traffic.
During the permit procedure, the public is formally involved in accordance with the legal requirements. 50Hertz supports this with informal public participation, also known as citizen dialogue. Citizen dialogue builds on 50Hertz's own experiences, not on legal stipulations. This difference is important, as the citizen dialogue ends where the formal public participation laid down by law begins (see also Transparency and public participation).
Permit for the onshore route
The point where the submarine cable first reaches land is called the landing point. From the landing point, the electricity generated at sea is transported to the onshore substation by means of an underground cable running along the onshore route. First, 50Hertz demonstrated to the Ministry of Economics, Infrastructure, Tourism and Labour of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania that for the Ostwind 3 project, the land use aspects are respected and a spatial planning procedure is therefore not required. If necessary, the spatial planning interests can be adequately handled in the planning approval procedure.
For the permit for the onshore route, 50Hertz is preparing the application documents for a planning approval procedure at the competent Ministry for Economy, Infrastructure, Tourism and Labour of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The planning approval procedure is a detailed permit review in which the construction permit for the project is issued as well. Simply put, the planning approval procedure primarily deals with the “how” of the construction project (specification of the location, structures, technical implementation).
The formal public participation is laid down by law. In this case, the legally responsible authorities shall be involved. During the permit procedure, the public is formally involved in accordance with the legal requirements. 50Hertz supports this with informal public participation, also known as citizen dialogue. Citizen dialogue builds on 50Hertz's own experiences, not on legal stipulations. This difference is important, as the citizen dialogue ends where the formal public participation laid down by law begins (see also Transparency and public participation).
Permit for onshore substation
The submarine cable of 220 kilovolt (kV) alternating current is connected to the German extra-high-voltage transmission grid by means of a substation . The necessary transformation of the voltage level from 220 to 380 kV takes place in this substation. Because the submarine cable cannot reach land at the existing Lubmin substation due to lack of space and for grid-technical reasons, 50Hertz must build a new substation for this purpose. In order to connect it with the existing overhead line , a so-called double tap point is necessary.
First, 50Hertz demonstrated to the Ministry of Economics, Infrastructure, Tourism and Labour of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania that for the Ostwind 3 project, the land use aspects are respected and a spatial planning procedure is therefore not required. If necessary, the spatial planning interests can be adequately handled in the planning approval procedure.
For the construction of the new substation, 50Hertz will launch a planning approval procedure with the competent permit authority, the Ministry of Economics, Infrastructure, Tourism and Labour of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, in late December. The planning approval procedure is a detailed permit review in which the building permit for the project is issued as well. Simply put, the planning approval procedure primarily deals with the “how” of the construction project (specification of the location, structures, technical implementation).
The formal public participation is laid down by law. In this case, legally responsible authorities such as the State Agency for Agriculture and Environment of Western Pomerania (Staatliches Amt für Landswirtschaft und Umwelt Vorpommern, StaLU Vorpommern) shall be involved. As a rule, the planning approval procedure takes 12 to 24 months.
The so-called tap point must be applied for in the planning approval procedure. The tap point is needed to feed the electricity generated by the offshore wind farm into the existing transmission grid of 50Hertz. It forms the connection between the existing overhead line grid and the substation. The tap point is installed as an overhead line. The permitting process follows section 43 of the German energy industry act (Energiewirtschaftsgesetz, EnWG).
During the permit procedure, the public is formally involved in accordance with the legal requirements. 50Hertz supports this with informal public participation, also known as citizen dialogue. Citizen dialogue builds on 50Hertz's own experiences, not on legal stipulations. This difference is important, as the citizen dialogue ends where the formal public participation laid down by law begins (see also Transparency and public participation).