Grid operator TenneT plans to double annual investment in grid expansion

Dutch grid operator TenneT wants to invest up to six billion euros annually in grid expansion in Germany and the Netherlands in the next three to five years, the company writes in a press release. This would mean moving “in the direction of doubling annual investments,” TenneT CFO Otto Jager told Handelsblatt. In 2020, the company invested 3.4 billion euros in total, of which 2.1 billion in Germany and the rest in the Netherlands, the company writes. Last year, TenneT increased its revenue from 4.1 billion to 4.5 billion euros, according to the press release. The company wants to scale up its investments in offshore wind power in the North Sea with investments of 20 billion euros by 2030, Handelsblatt writes. Tennet also hopes to increase cooperation between EU states. "It is becoming increasingly important to plan the expansion of offshore wind power in the North Sea on a European scale. We need a transnational concept," Tim Meyerjürgens, COO of Tennet, told Handelsblatt.

Offshore wind power is a key component of Germany’s plan to produce 65 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2030. Last year, the country expanded its 2040 offshore capacity target to 40 gigawatts. But the industry faces many challenges, mainly due to environmental concerns and increasing costs as shallow, relatively easy-to-exploit sites are filled. In 2020, German wind farms in the North Sea produced more electricity than ever before, rising to 12.4 percent of power production in Germany.