Suedlink: Route through Lower Saxony runs from the Elbe crossing via Hannover to just before Hesse

Suedlink is one of the longest direct current connections currently being planned in Germany. With a total length of around 700 kilometers, the line is intended to transport wind power from the north to the south, primarily to Bavaria and other southern German regions.

Years of Resistance from the Regions

The exact route has been at the center of discussions for years. Citizens' initiatives, municipalities, and farmers have repeatedly expressed concerns about land use, the impacts on agriculture, and the route through sensitive landscape and water protection areas.

The Elbe crossing itself is considered one of the most technically challenging sections of the project. A passage beneath the river is planned near the Schleswig-Holstein towns of Wischhafen and Wewelsfleth, which has been intensively discussed in recent years.

Technical Challenge of the Elbe Crossing

In Lower Saxony, the route passes through a mix of agricultural land, moorland areas, and peri-urban spaces around Hannover. The precise alignment is being determined in several planning approval sections, not all of which have yet become legally final.

Supporters argue that Suedlink is a central building block for supply security and the expansion of renewable energies. They point out that without powerful north-south connections, the wind power generated in the north cannot reach the consumption centers in the south.

Arguments from Supporters and Critics

Critics, on the other hand, see the project as a disproportionate burden on the affected regions. They call for alternative route alignments, more underground cabling, and greater consideration of existing infrastructure corridors.

The political debate will continue in the coming weeks. In the affected districts, but also at the state level in Hannover, the next procedural steps and possible lawsuits against individual planning approval decisions are expected.

Regardless of the further course, the Lower Saxony section of the route shows how large the spatial dimension of the project is: from the Elbe in the north to just before the Hessian border, the line stretches across several districts and affects numerous municipalities along the corridor.