Network expansion costs hundreds of billions of euros. The network operator Tennet would like to sell its German electricity network to the federal government in order to get the necessary capital – but there is a problem.
The Dutch network operator Tennet is now looking for other sources of money in parallel because of so far unsuccessful talks about nationalizing its German transmission network. The Dutch Tennet headquarters announced this on Thursday. The company estimated the capital required to expand its networks in both countries by 2033 at 160 billion euros.
Tennet took over the German part of its network from Eon in 2010. The Tennet parent company is owned by the Dutch state, but the costs of network expansion in Germany have become too expensive for them. The company therefore made public its desire for the federal government to take over its German transmission network in February 2023. The Dutch government had already stated in 2020 that it would prefer the federal government to participate.
A spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Economics did not want to comment on Tennet’s announcement when asked. “The federal government and the government of the Netherlands are continuing to negotiate the purchase of TenneT Deutschland,” it said.
Tennet’s immense need for money is to be covered partly through loans and partly by increasing equity capital. The company is now considering the entry of investors or an IPO, according to the announcement.
The German transmission network – these are the high-voltage lines – is awarded to four network operators. Tennet operates the network in the largest of these four zones, the area extends from the North Sea to the Austrian border. The German subsidiary is based in Bayreuth. The federal government initially welcomed the move.
The company tried to dispel fears from the outset that the fruitless talks with the federal government could jeopardize network expansion. According to Tennet, the cash requirements for this year and next are covered by a loan of 25 billion euros, which the Dutch state has granted as a shareholder. Tennet therefore wants to stick to the planned investments in Germany and the Netherlands.
Source: Stern
