TenneT has increased investment activity, spending $4.98 billion on growth in H1 2024 as compared to $3.79 billion in H1 2023, on its 2 GW offshore program and several onshore projects.
The company maintained a high grid availability in the period due to the increased investments in assets and delivering especially during times of intensive work on the high-voltage grids and grid expansions.
In H1 2024, the overall costs for ancillary services such as redispatch, grid losses, reserve power plants and control power decreased, resulting in lower underlying revenue. The earnings for H1 2024 were higher as compared to H1 2023 due to the larger asset base resulting from TenneT's growing investments and, partly offset by decreased result of non-regulated joint ventures due to lower auction receipts.
TenneT plans to construct over 3,500 km of new grid connections on land and at sea in Germany, and 2,500 km in the Netherlands for the period until 2045. This requires expansion of TenneT's onshore grid with new transformers and new high-voltage substations, while also building an integrated offshore grid in the North Sea.
“Although I regret the termination of the negotiations on the complete sale of TenneT Germany to the German state, TenneT is simultaneously fully committed to the investment agenda in the Netherlands and Germany, which amounts to $173.14 billion for the next 10 years,” said TenneT’s CFO Arina Freitag. “The expectation after the first six months of 2024 is that we will achieve our target of investing EUR 10 billion in 2024 with good progress in projects both on land and at sea.”
TenneT and the Dutch state have agreed upon a $27 billion shareholder loan facility to support the planned investments in the Netherlands and Germany for 2024 and 2025.
· TenneT expects to carry out almost 700 infrastructure projects, which include grid extensions, replacement investments, offshore wind farm connections and reconstruction projects.
· Likewise, in Germany, the four German grid operators, presented their Grid Development Plan (NEP) 2037/2045 (2023) to the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA). The current NEP contains scenarios for the years 2037 and 2045 and describes an electricity transmission grid for a climate-neutral energy system for the first time.
· The jacket for the Hollandse Kust (west Beta) transformer platform is installed and the topside will be installed in 2025. The connection system will connect the RWE/OranjeWind wind farm to be built in the coming years.
· To make better use of the current grid, TenneT is applying Dynamic Line Rating to both 380 kV and 110-150 kV connections, a smart technology offering up to 30 percent more transmission capacity on an increasing number of connections.
· To boost network capacity, use the grid more efficiently, and combat congestion, the province of Utrecht, together with TenneT and regional grid operator Stedin, announced a range of new grid-enhancing measures like grid-conscious charging of electric vehicles, grid-efficient installations in existing buildings and deployment of controllable power generation.
· To bring down emissions during project construction, TenneT used green hydrogen for drilling in the construction of a new high voltage line between the Woensdrecht substation and Bergen op Zoom. TenneT also tunnels cable systems with fully electrically power drilling rigs.
· TenneT issued a dual tranche green hybrid bond of $595.23 million with a coupon of 4.625% and a non-call period of 5.25 years and $595.23 million with a coupon of 4.875% and a non-call period of eight years, respectively. Proceeds will be invested in eligible green power transmission projects in the Netherlands and Germany.
