GoKawiilIn 2021, the Grohnde nuclear power plant in Lower Saxony on the Weser River was shut down. Now, immediately next to it, the Emmerthal energy cluster is growing with three very large battery storage systems, ground-mounted photovoltaic systems, and a new substation for several 380-kilovolt high-voltage lines.
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The villages of Grohnde and Kirchohsen on the Weser River belong to the municipality of Emmerthal. This municipality has decided to approve up to three battery storage systems (BESS) on a maximum of 35 hectares of land in the “Energiecluster Emmerthal”.
According to public documents from the municipality, three BESS projects from the operators Green Energy Storage Initiative (GESI), FRV, and Elements Green have already received commitments for their respective grid connections.
The connection to large power lines will be via the new Emmerthal substation (UW), which the grid operator TenneT is building. It replaces the previous Grohnde substation, whose capacity is no longer sufficient. The Emmerthal substation will couple two 380 kV power lines, which are also to be reinforced, with several 110 kV lines. The future RheinMainLink power line runs close by.
In this region, the RheinMainLink runs parallel to the SüdLink, which is already under construction and is also designed as a 525 kV underground cable with High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission. The two lines are only about 19 kilometers apart in this area.
Apparently, the operators of BESS near the two new north-south power lines hope to buy wind power surpluses from northern Germany cheaply and sell them at a higher price to southern Germany when needed.
Site plan of the Emmerthal energy cluster, as of March 1, 2025 (Image: Gemeinde Emmerthal)
Potentially up to 1.87 gigawatts of power
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