Start of construction of the A-North power line: Announcement by Amprion GmbH

Start of construction of the A-North direct current links from the Lower Saxony / North Rhine-Westphalia state border to the Borken / Wesel district border

The A-Nord direct current connection is intended to collect wind power from the North Sea region in Emden and transport it towards the Rhineland. The underground cable route is anchored as project number 1 in the Federal Requirements Plan Act (BBPIG). The approximately 300-kilometre-long power line will run largely across agricultural land. We at Amprion GmbH have the legal mandate to build and commission this direct current connection.

On 25 February, the Federal Network Agency confirmed the planning approval decision for project no. 1 BBPlG, A-North, for the NRW1 planning approval section. We intend to start work shortly on the section from the Lower Saxony / North Rhine-Westphalia state border to the Borken / Wesel district border.

The construction of the underground cables in the individual sections requires various trades, which are carried out one after the other and build on each other:

SURVEYING WORK

Surveying work will be carried out in advance in order to create construction areas, access roads and construction roads. The areas to be used are marked in advance. In addition, any intersecting supply lines are surveyed and marked out at the top edge of the site.

PRUNING AND ROAD CONSTRUCTION

Initially, trees and shrubs in the area of the planned underground cable route will be cut back in order to build the access roads. For this purpose, we will first reinforce the existing agricultural road network or lay out temporary construction roads (planks, steel plates, etc.). The access roads are necessary so that the individual construction site areas can be constructed and reached. As far as possible, access routes are initially provided via public roads or paths. Damage to roads and paths caused by construction vehicles will be repaired during and after the construction work.

OPEN CONSTRUCTION METHOD IN THE TRENCH

The cable trenches are generally constructed using the embanked method. The following steps are necessary for this:

• Removal of the topsoil in the area of the cable trenches and storage on windrows at the edges in accordance with the specifications from the soil protection concept
• Setting up and operating dewatering measures, if necessary
• Installation of the cable ducts at a depth of approx. 1.95 m (base of cable trench to top of ground)
• Backfilling the pipeline zone with liquid soil and laying a route warning tape
• Backfilling of the trench in accordance with the soil protection concept

CLOSED CONSTRUCTION METHOD USING THE HORIZONTAL DIRECTIONAL DRILLING METHOD (HDD)

For the closed construction method using the horizontal directional drilling method, the construction site facilities, including the access routes, are first created as described above. Before drilling begins, a starting pit and a target pit are excavated in which the drilling slurry is collected, reprocessed or disposed of in accordance with legal standards. Once we have set up the construction site, we start drilling in the direction of the target pit. At the same time, we will lay out and connect the cable protection conduits on the areas at the target excavation pit. Once the drilling is complete, we will pull these in while widening the drilling channel. We will drill up to ten individual boreholes at each drilling site. Once we have completed the drilling, we will dismantle the construction site facilities.

DISMANTLING TEMPORARY CONSTRUCTION ROADS AND CONSTRUCTION SITE FACILITIES

Once we have completed all the civil engineering work, we dismantle the temporary construction roads and work areas. If there is a longer period of time between the civil engineering work and the cable installation, we will dismantle the temporary construction roads and work areas.

If necessary, dismantle working areas at the relevant locations first and then rebuild them later. We will of course compensate the owners or farmers for any damage to the land and vegetation.

In order to minimise the impact on the environment, the work will be continuously monitored by an ecological and pedological construction supervisor. We at Amprion are doing everything we can to minimise the impact of the construction work on you as a local resident. Property owners and land managers affected by construction work will generally be informed by the contractors two weeks in advance of the start of construction work