IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - July/August 2016 - 81

The data in different pilot projects
were collected jointly by BestGrid partners
for the period 2013-2015.

Pilot Projects
Elia is the Belgian TSO, which has over 8,000 km of lines.
Two pilot projects of Elia are included in the BestGrid
approach. One is the 150-kV onshore Braine-l'Alleud and
Waterloo underground cable. In 2014, Elia canceled the pilot
because of new forecasts regarding electricity consumption
in the region, which showed that the need for the new cable
connection disappeared.
The second pilot project is the Stevin power line (see
Figure 2), which is one of the largest new HV power lines
planned in Belgium, with a total length of 40 km and a 380-kV
HV. A part of the project is underground cable because of
the environmental concerns.
TenneT in cooperation with TransnetBW is currently
realizing the largest energy transmission infrastructure project in Germany, the Sued.Link (see Figure 3). The HVdc
power line of around 800 km with a transmission capacity of
4 GW will allow electricity generated from wind energy in
the North Sea to be delivered to consumers in the middle and
the south of Germany. The project is planned to go through
densely populated regions with on average 235 people living
on each square kilometer.
50Hertz (see Figure 4) is managing 220-kV and 380-kV
electricity grids in the north and east of Germany with the
overall length of 10,000 km. This grid integrates around
40% of all wind energy generated in Germany and provides electricity to 18 million people. 50Hertz is planning to

North Sea

United Kingdom

k
in

Zeebrugge
Belgium
Offshore
Wind Farms

New RES
Generation

Route Stevin

Zomergem

figure 2. The Stevin connection. (Source: Germanwatch,
based on Elia 2014.)
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ieee power & energy magazine

construct the 29-km Bertikow-Pasewalk 380-kV overhead
line, which will replace the existing 220-kV and 110-kV
lines to integrate growing volumes of electricity from renewable energy sources.

Concerns of Stakeholders
The data in different pilot projects were collected jointly
by BestGrid partners (Figure 5) for the period 2013-2015.
IIASA developed data collection protocol, provided inputs
and methodological guidance on different data collection
methods, and analyzed the results. IIASA, Germanwatch,
and RGI provided records of public information events and
roundtable discussions for all pilot projects. National NGOs,
such as IEW, BBL, and NABU, recorded concerns for separate pilot projects. NABU and IEW provided feedback forms
about the BestGrid project. IEW and BBL conducted extensive interviews with local stakeholders.
The data collection included different methods such as
stakeholders mapping, in-depth interviews with key stakeholders, observations and recording on side of the workshop
with local and regional authorities, as well as roundtable
discussions between NGOs and environmental authorities.
Further activities, such as observations of public information
events and onsite surveys to collect feedback from stakeholders, were also conducted.

Need
Concerns about the need of the project were most frequently
expressed across all five pilot projects. We have examples
from Waterloo-Braine d'Alleud, Stevin, Sued.Link, and
Bertikow-Pasewalk pilots (see Table 2). In all pilots, we
recorded a low level of awareness among inhabitants about
the need of the project for climate change mitigation.
In the case of the Elia Waterloo-Braine d'Alleud underground cable connection, the need was not clear, as there
was no significant population growth in Waterloo, several
electricity consuming industries were disappearing, and
the number of commercial consumers in the region was not
planned to increase. The need was also questioned in light
of ongoing effects to implement energy efficiency measures.
Public administration stakeholders were also concerned on
the security of the electricity transmission network and how
Elia can guarantee the reliable supply of electricity during
construction works and after, as the cable is a relatively new
technology. After the news that the project was canceled,
stakeholders were mainly concerned about how such news
july/august 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - July/August 2016