TenneT’s New 380 kV Line Powers Salzgitter’s Low-Carbon Steel Push

German transmission system operator TenneT has commissioned a new 10-kilometre, 380 kV overhead line that gives one of the region’s largest industrial complexes the electrical headroom it needs to decarbonise steel production. The newly built section connects two nodal substations located near the Salzgitter AG steelmaking site, unlocking grid capacity that will allow the plant to add an industrial electric arc furnace.

The existing 220 kV regional network was unable to meet the growing power demands that accompany a shift to low-carbon metallurgical processes. Heike Deneke-Arnold, Chair of the Management Board of Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH, noted that without the grid reinforcement the plant could not have met its growing electricity demand as production expands toward lower-emission methods.

The 10 km segment forms part of a broader 100 km regional programme called the “Ostfalen Axis.” Its absence would have left the first phase of the Salcos green steel project without sufficient electrical capacity. Planning began in May 2021, substation construction started in September 2023, and erection of the overhead line ran from April 2024.

The connection is expected to allow completion of the first Salzgitter expansion phase next year, when new capacity — including the electric arc furnace — is set to come online. In a parallel step, Salzgitter Flachstahl earlier signed what is described as Germany’s largest corporate power purchase agreement, a hybrid deal with developer Zelestra pairing a solar plant with a battery energy storage system.

Source: GMK Center