Achieving acceptance for the expansion of the electricity grid with accompanying communication

We build acceptance for grid expansion through supporting communications

In 2022, it had been 10 years since Germany’s four transmission system operators (TSOs) – 50Hertz, Amprion, TenneT TSO and TransnetBW – presented the first Electricity Grid Development Plan (NEP). A great deal has happened since then, as the report is republished every two years, setting out how Germany’s extra-high-voltage grid must evolve to ensure the success of the energy transition and enable Germany to achieve climate neutrality by 2045. From the very beginning, CBE DIGIDEN has worked alongside the TSOs, providing comprehensive advice on reporting, process communication and participation communication, both online and live, for all stakeholder groups.

As the central hub of a project involving participants across Germany, CBE DIGIDEN operates in a field that could hardly be more relevant today. After all, the energy transition concerns us all. Making it possible requires joint effort and mutual acceptance. The TSOs have made it their task to contribute their part to the success of the energy transition by engaging with all participants with the highest degree of transparency and willingness to engage in dialogue. The basis for all measures and steps is respectful, fact-based exchange and participation within the defined framework.

Diverse participation communications

From corporate design and logo to the report and brochures, from conducting and evaluating consultations to live and digital events, from the website to collaborative software, from explainer videos to interactive graphics – all instruments are planned as sustainably as possible and continuously developed in line with the respective political and social conditions. With a clear, fact-based design, even an expert publication now spanning almost 800 pages can be presented in an appropriate and accessible way. Participation communication means the willingness and ability not only to provide facts, but also to communicate them in a way that is easy to understand: background knowledge on the energy transition, grid planning as a core competence of the TSOs, and how the energy system of the future is forecast are all presented in an accessible way on the website www.netzentwicklungsplan.de.

Exchange with stakeholders at expert level is just as much a part of the project as the public consultation on the draft Electricity Grid Development Plan. To support this, CBE DIGIDEN integrated a consultation portal into the website, including a co-signing function similar to those known from online petitions, and also developed dedicated software for capturing and processing consultation submissions. This makes it possible to receive public consultation responses in the five-figure range in real time, catalogue them quickly and process them in compliance with the highest security standards. And that is just one of the digital applications developed jointly for the collaboration of the four TSOs within this project. Ultimately, the goal is to advance the energy transition and help people understand the importance of grid expansion in making it happen.