50Hertz reached a first milestone in the implementation of the project on 26 January 2024 with the submission of the application for federal sector planning in accordance with Section 6 of the Grid Expansion Acceleration Act (NABEG) for Project 93 “Energiedreieck Mitteldeutschland” (Lauchstädt-Leuna-Pulgar).
The replacement construction project between the Lauchstädt substation in Saxony-Anhalt and the Pulgar substation in Saxony serves to increase the transmission grid capacity of electricity in the two federal states. To this end, an existing 220 kV high-voltage overhead line is to be replaced by a 380 kV extra-high-voltage overhead line. In addition, a new transformer station is to be built in the Leuna/Merseburg/Weißenfels/Braunsbedra search area in Saxony-Anhalt. It will connect the Leuna Chemical Park and serve the expected increase in load there in the coming years.
In the federal sectoral planning process, an approx. 1,000 m wide corridor within which the future line is to run is determined in a multi-stage procedure. Among other things, existing settlement areas, nature conservation concerns and infrastructure as well as the specified regional planning objectives are considered in this process. The specific route of the line will be determined in the upcoming planning approval procedure by 2026. Commissioning of the new overhead line and the new substation is planned by 2033.