Germany plans to buy majority stake in unit of Dutch grid operator TenneT – EQ Mag

TenneT has welcomed the resumption of negotiations between the Dutch and German governments on the possibility of Germany buying a majority stake or all of the TSO’s German subsidiary.

Talks on Germany taking an equity stake in TenneT were halted last year over the question of who would control the company’s German subsidiary.

But in a letter to the Dutch House of Representatives on November, 28, finance minister Sigrid Kaag said that the ministry will enter into negotiations with the German state to explore whether a mutually beneficial outcome can be reached.

“TenneT looks forward to the upcoming negotiations with the envisaged new shareholder alongside TenneT Holding, the German state investment and development bank KfW,” a spokesperson for TenneT told reNEWS.

“The common goal is to accelerate the further expansion of the German power grid, and thus the German energy transition.

The spokesperson said that the cross-border nature of TenneT offers significant advantages in accelerating the energy transition, which is becoming increasingly cross-border and European in nature, by speeding up the realisation of energy projects, reducing project costs and increasing security of supply.

Since 2010, no other high-voltage grid operator in Germany has invested more in Germany’s energy transition than TenneT Germany, according to the TSO.

In line with political decisions to speed up the energy transition, TenneT’s investment programme increased to around €97 biln over the next 10 years (for the Netherlands and Germany).

“For the same period, the German investment agenda has further increased to around €60 billion,” the spokesperson said.

“This has implications also on equity requirements for the German operations. Minister Kaag writes in her letter that while in March 2021 equity requirements were still estimated at €4.5 billion, they account for €11 billion for the next 10 years, with around half needed for the first years from 2024 onwards.”

The spokesperson said that the increased equity need of TenneT Germany is, next to an increased inflation rate, mainly based on the acceleration of current projects and the addition of several new projects in the bi-annual German investment plan, the “Netzentwicklungsplan 2035”.

Source: reuters