TenneT Holding B.V. will receive a loan of 500 million euros as part of a financial package provided by the European Investment Bank (EIB) to expand energy networks in Europe. This will enable TenneT to construct and operate three offshore high voltage direct current (HVDC) lines that will connect wind farms in the North Sea with the German onshore electricity network.
The new German coalition has set an installed offshore generation capacity target of 6.5GW by 2020 as part of the country’s energy transition (Energiewende). Germany is currently focusing on the expansion of offshore wind and a total of 6.2GW has already been installed by TenneT or is currently under construction, making the company one of the main drivers of the Energiewende. TenneT is now planning the construction of HVDC lines in order to connect offshore wind turbines with a capacity of up to 2.2 GW to the grid given that transmission using high-voltage alternating current (AC) is not efficient due to the high capacity and the great distance of the wind farms from the coast.
“The Bank sees the expansion of electricity networks as one of its central tasks in the coming years” said Wilhelm Molterer, the EIB Vice-President responsible for the bank’s operations in Germany. “They are part of Europe’s strategic infrastructure. A key element is the connection of offshore wind farms. This is also playing a decisive role in Germany’s energy policy turnaround. With today’s loan the EIB is also supporting TenneT's pioneering efforts to tackle the special challenges of offshore power transmission.”
Otto Jager, TenneT’s Chief Financial Officer, added that with over 1 billion euros of total funds committed, the EIB has proved to be a reliable and outstanding financing partner for the company’s onshore and offshore transmission projects.
Netherlands-based TenneT is a one of the leading electricity transmission operators (TSO’s) in Europe and operates in Germany through its subsidiary TenneT TSO GmbH. The company’s head office is in Arnhem where the signing of the loan agreement took place. Construction of the HVDC convertor stations has already begun and will be completed in either 2014 or 2015.
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