Power Supply “Made in Lower Saxony”: The A-Nord Converter in Emden Is Taking Shape

As part of his summer tour, Lower Saxony’s Minister President Olaf Lies visited the Amprion converter construction site in Emden. Starting in late 2027, green electricity will flow from here to North Rhine-Westphalia. With this converter, Emden is helping to supply approximately two million people with wind energy.

Despite the summer break, work on the construction site is in full swing. Lower Saxony’s Minister President Olaf Lies got a firsthand look at the progress today as part of his summer tour: Power electronics are currently being installed in the last two of a total of four converter halls. The converter halls are responsible for converting alternating current to direct current. Another important milestone: In recent weeks, the first cable work has begun from the converter site to the grid interconnection point. Once completed, alternating current from the wind farms will reach the converter site.

“Lower Saxony is the central hub of Germany’s energy supply—and Emden is a crucial location for this,” emphasized the Minister President. “With the converter, we are reliably feeding offshore wind energy from the North Sea into the grid and to consumer centers. This strengthens our security of supply and tangibly drives the energy transition forward. At the same time, the project demonstrates how grid expansion is becoming a driver of value creation and promising future prospects in the regions.”

“Lower Saxony plays a central role in the energy transition,” says Amprion CFO Peter Rüth. “The Minister President’s visit underscores the converter’s importance for supplying Germany with green wind energy produced here in Lower Saxony. With this project, we are creating a vital link between offshore wind farms and the onshore transmission grid—reliably, efficiently, and in close collaboration with the region. We would like to thank the state of Lower Saxony for enabling this rapid implementation and making a significant contribution to climate neutrality.”

The Emden Converter: Key to the Energy Transition

The facility is a key hub for distributing wind energy from the north. In the future, large quantities of green electricity from wind farms in the North Sea will arrive in Emden. The electricity will then be transported via the 300-kilometer-long A-Nord underground cable connection to Meerbusch-Osterath in the Rhineland. This will enable approximately two gigawatts of wind power to be delivered to North Rhine-Westphalia.

The Emden converter station is one of the most modern of its kind. It not only converts alternating current to direct current, but also regulates and stabilizes the grid voltage. Together with the Ultranet direct-current connection, this creates a wind power corridor approximately 600 kilometers long extending all the way to southern Germany. This will supply electricity to approximately four million people.

For more information on the A-Nord project, visit a-nord.amprion.net.

Offshore Planning at Amprion

Amprion is investing approximately 42 billion euros by 2030 in the expansion of the transmission grid and, thereby, in Germany’s energy transition. This includes several high-capacity onshore and offshore projects using direct current technology, which Amprion is coordinating. This approach saves time and money and minimizes the impact on nature and the environment.