Energy Transition Along TenneT’s Grid Territory

ProVAN is about strengthening and expanding the grids, increasing power capacities, transmitting power over long distances, and ultimately driving forward the energy transition by means of seventeen 380 kV overhead line and cable projects currently being carried out by TenneT over a length of hundreds of kilometers. As project manager, I am proud to be involved in this pioneering project together with some 60 other colleagues from Fichtner. The projects have now been going on for five years and will continue for another eight, involving experts, citizens, nature, people and materials from the Danish border deep into Bavaria. Boredom is all but impossible, and personal development opportunities are guaranteed.

ProVAN is, of course, not one project, but the sum of many individual projects, with Fichtner supporting TenneT TSO GmbH in implementing various grid expansion projects in Germany as part of the energy transition. Depending on requirements and project progress, the range of services extends from the permitting phase to project preparation and project execution planning through to construction supervision of the 380 kV overhead lines and cables.

From North to South

The overhead line projects run from north to south, through the German states of Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony and Hesse all the way to Bavaria. ProVAN started in 2018, with ProVAN2 being added in 2021, and the projects are scheduled to run until 2031. Along with their lengthy duration, they have a lengthy distance, planning to construct approx. 2,200 km of overhead line (380 kV) and approx. 46 km of new-build cable (380 kV).

Our Strength: Multidisciplinary Teams

What sets our team at Fichtner apart is its almost unrivaled versatility, which we are able to utilize, harness and demonstrate perfectly in ProVAN.

“The tendered tasks are very varied. We know what is possible, so we put together suitable packages with the client and then combine who can and wants to take on which task in our team. This enables us to effectively apply our competencies, in a manner akin to assembling parts out of a construction set, and in doing so meet our client’s needs perfectly.”

The complexity of the tasks – from project preparation to permitting support through to construction implementation or supervision – requires a wide range of expertise that must be brought together to form a multidisciplinary team, consisting of permit engineers and coordinators, environmental planners and foresters, civil engineers and electrical engineers, etc. At Fichtner, experts in all fields are just a phone call away. Teamwork is encouraged and practiced, and the wide variety of interests results in combinations of solutions that, in my experience, make us unique.

The Energy Transition: A Personal Career Goal

What I refer to as the ‘construction set’ arouses interest on both sides, with our interdisciplinary work offering our clients and partners complex solutions from a single source. At the same time, these diverse opportunities to learn, to get to know different projects and to gain your own experience in different areas provide an ever-growing potential for personal development – in other words, real career opportunities.

I welcome any feedback from anyone reading this who feels that it appeals to them, who wants to actively help drive forward the energy transition or who simply wants to learn more about ProVAN.

July 2023