50Hertz has awarded the services for the civil engineering of the 4GW SuedOstLink direct current connection through Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.
The contracts awarded secure the construction of the SuedOstLink direct current connection in sections A1 and A2 through Saxony-Anhalt, which is important for the energy transition.
The orders for the approximately 170 km-long section of the pipeline amount to €650m, with around €390m going to companies with locations in eastern Germany.
The contracts include crossings under bodies of water, roads or railway lines, open trench construction and the purchase of cable protection pipes.
“We are pleased that we were able to commission locally based companies along the planned underground cable route for a large part of the construction work on the SuedOstLink.
“In this way, the SuedOstLink not only contributes to securing the power supply, but also makes an important contribution to local value creation in 50Hertz’s grid area,” said Marco Nix, MD for grid expansion projects and finance at 50Hertz.
Contracts worth around €530m have been awarded for open trench construction and smaller flush drilling.
At the beginning of the year, these were awarded to PORR, based in Rangsdorf near Berlin, Frank Kassecker and Max Bögl with branches in Leipzig and Gera, and Wolff & Müller from Dresden.
More than two-thirds of the orders go to companies with locations in eastern Germany.
Further orders were placed in 2024.
The elaborate pipe jacking will be carried out by Sonntag Baugesellschaft from the Rhineland.
The execution of complex crossings using the flush drilling method (HDD) was awarded to Kuhlmann Leitungsbau based in Lüneburg, a consortium of STRABAG based in Gera and H&E Bohrtechnik from Stadtroda, as well as to another consortium led by the Belgian company Verbraeken infra.
Individual early construction measures had already begun in Saxony-Anhalt in autumn 2024.
The work had been approved by the Federal Network Agency in advance and parallel to the ongoing planning approval procedure.
Construction work on the full length of the pipeline can start with receipt of the planning approval decisions.
50Hertz expects this for sections A1 and A2 in March.
From 2027, the SuedOstLink is to transport renewable energy efficiently and with low losses between north and south, thus strengthening the security of supply in Germany in the long term.