- TenneT had ended talks to sell its German business to the German government and would now explore alternative funding options for the business.
- TenneT has Europe’s largest capital spending plan, investing 160 billion euros in the coming decade in grid improvements.
TenneT, a Dutch state-owned grid company, said it had ended talks to sell its German business to the German government and would now explore alternative funding options for the business.
Berlin had asked the Netherlands in 2023 to sell the grid, Germany’s largest, in a deal that would have valued it at around 20-25 billion euros ($21-27 billion). The grid is a crucial infrastructure for the country’s transition to green energy.
However, the sides failed to agree on a deal amid Germany’s budget crisis, leading Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to make a personal plea to German Chancellor Olaf Scholtz in May to make a bid.
“This announcement comes after the Federal Government of Germany informed the Dutch State that it cannot deliver on the planned transaction due to budgetary challenges,” TenneT said in a statement.
TenneT has Europe’s largest capital spending plan, investing 160 billion euros in the coming decade in grid improvements, including building out the network needed to support wind turbine parks in the North Sea.
TenneT said it remained “fully committed” to its investment plan, backed by the Dutch state, which gave it a 25 billion euro loan for 2024 and 2025.
In a letter to parliament on May 25, the Dutch finance minister said: “Should the sale of TenneT Germany not proceed, a choice must be made on a solution for the short term financing needs of TenneT and a structural solution for its capital needs.”
Moreover, TenneT is a transmission system operator in the Netherlands and in a large part of Germany. TenneT B.V. is the national electricity transmission system operator of the Netherlands, headquartered in Arnhem.
Also, the Dutch government controls and owns it, and it is responsible for overseeing the operation of the 380 and 220 kV high-voltage grid throughout the Netherlands and its interconnections with neighbouring countries.
It is additionally responsible for the 150 kV grid in South Holland. In Germany, its subsidiary TenneT TSO GmbH is one of the four transmission system operators.