“We’re all in agreement that there will be HVDC lines,”Merkel was quoted as saying during a weekend meeting of her ChristianDemocratic Party (CDU) by the AFP news wire.

Merkel stressed that German state premiers overwhelminglyagreed last year to plans to build the transmission lines that are aiming totransport energy from coastal and offshore wind parks in the north toindustrial centres in southern Germany, where several nuclear plants will beswitched off in coming years.

Pressured