Energy minister Claude Turmes on Wednesday presented the plans to lawmakers, with works expected to begin in 2023. By 2028, the upgraded network should include a new high-voltage power line to Germany.

Coming from Aach, near Trier, the 380kV electric line will help the country meet its growing need for electricity, Turmes said. Electricity consumption has gone up from 1,000 gigawatt hours (GWh) per year in the 1970s to more than 5,000GWh today.

This was due not only to a growing population but also increased digitalisation, he said. Luxembourg’s push for electric vehicles but also projects such as a Google data centre planned for the town of Bissen will further strain the existing network, much of which dates from the 1960s.

The next generation power line will feature fewer transmission towers, with Creos saying it would be able to remove 225 pylons from the Luxembourg countryside.

Results from an environmental impact study are still pending but should be available by end of next year to accommodate any potential changes to the 50-km route market out for the project. Creos will build, manage and pay for the new infrastructure, Turmes said, with no impact on Luxembourg's public budget.