Start of subsoil investigations for grid reinforcement east

In order to be able to plan the project in detail, APG employees and experts commissioned by APG will be carrying out ground investigations on properties in the affected municipalities - in the districts of Baden, Mödling, Bruck an der Leitha and Neusiedl am See - over the coming months. The sole purpose of this work is to explore the conditions for an optimal route. The exploration campaign consisting of 22 core drillings and 40 excavator trenches with dynamic probing will start in November and is expected to last until the end of February 2026. The affected municipalities and property owners have already been personally informed about the work.

 The further planning process in 2026 

APG has already informed all municipalities about the need for the project and the further procedure in the course of the current year 2025. The basis for the current on-site ground investigations is the preliminary work permit issued by the responsible Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK).This allows APG to carry out preliminary investigations and environmental surveys on private land. The affected municipalities and property owners were informed personally before the start of the investigations. The next steps in project communication will be further information meetings with municipalities and landowners from spring 2026 and information fairs for interested citizens, probably from the summer. APG will present the project in detail at these events 

Further steps up to commissioning 

The result of the comprehensive planning is an environmental impact statement (EIS), which is expected to be submitted to the authorities for an environmental impact assessment (EIA) in 2027. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2030 and the pipeline is planned to go into operation in the mid-2030s. Current project information can be found at:Grid Reinforcement East - Austria needs electricity 

The Grid Reinforcement East 

Grid Reinforcement East project is part of the APG Grid Development Plan 2023, the ÖNIP 2024 (Integrated Austrian Grid Infrastructure Plan of the Federal Ministry for Climate Protection) and a key project for the eastern regions of Lower Austria and northern Burgenland. Here, the existing electricity infrastructure is already increasingly reaching its capacity limits due to the massive expansion of PV and wind power plants. The new 380 kV line, most of which will run alongside or instead of existing lines, will increase the region's security of electricity supply.A stable grid for future generations will also enable the electrification of all areas of life - from energy-intensive production processes in industry to e-mobility and electricity-based applications in the household sector. This line is particularly important for transporting renewable energy from the PV and wind power plants in the east of Austria to the large-scale consumers and pumped storage power plants in the west of the country.The increased integration of renewable energy will also reduce Austria's dependence on electricity imports. 

About Austrian Power Grid (APG) 

As an independent transmission system operator, Austrian Power Grid (APG) is responsible for the secure supply of electricity in Austria. With our high-performance and digital electricity infrastructure and the use of state-of-the-art technologies, we integrate renewable energies and thus reduce dependence on imports, act as a platform for the electricity market, create access to affordable electricity and thus form the basis for a secure supply and sustainable business and living location. The APG grid extends over a route length of around 3,500 km, which the company operates and maintains with a team of around 1,000 specialists and continuously adapts to the increasing demands of the electrification of society, business and industry. The majority of the 67 substations distributed throughout Austria are operated remotely from the control center in Vienna. Thanks to our dedicated employees, the security of supply was again 99.99% in 2024, putting us among the world leaders. Our investments of EUR 630 million in 2025 (2024: EUR 440 million, 2023: EUR 490 million) are an economic driver and a key component in achieving Austria's energy targets. APG will invest a total of around 9 billion euros in grid expansion and conversion by 2034.