Investment of 111 billion euros required for expansion of electricity grid operator

Dutch electricity transmission system operator TenneT will require investments of 111 billion euros over the next decade to expand and modernise its grid infrastructure in Germany and the Netherlands, business daily Handelsblatt reports. Chief financial officer Arina Freitag told the newspaper this was the task of the century and explained that about 60 percent of the costs would fall in Germany and about 40 across the border in the Netherlands. Having made a record investment of 4.5 billion euros in grid expansion in 2022, the grid operator wants to almost double this value and increase investment to at least 8 billion euros per year over the next decade. According to the TSO, total investments in Germany since 2011 stand at over 21 billion euros.

The German government is currently in talks with the TSO to acquire a majority stake, or even all, of the German subsidiary for more than 20 billion euros. The country's power grid is in urgent need of comprehensive modernisation and expansion, especially to transmit wind power generated in the north to industrial centres in the south. However, many of the new lines are behind schedule because of long planning procedures. The German government is considering merging the country's four TSOs into a single German Grid Corporation.