TenneT awards €1.5bn for 4,900km HV grid connections in Germany and Netherlands

Dutch German TSO TenneT has signed a multi-year contract with eight contract partners for the supply and installation of cables for high-voltage AC connections in Germany and the Netherlands as DERs continue to proliferate the grid.

The so-called Corporate Framework Agreement includes connections for the 110, 150, 220 and 380kV onshore high-voltage AC connections to the power grid in Germany and the Netherlands on behalf of TenneT in the coming years.

The agreement aims to ensure the availability of materials and resources to realise the planned high-voltage projects on time.

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“In the coming years, we will construct some 900km of high-voltage in Germany and TenneT will realise some 4,000km of high-voltage in the Netherlands,” stated TenneT in a release, announcing the agreement.

The contract value of the award is €1.5 billion ($1.7 billion), of which one half is designated to investments in Germany and the other half to the Netherlands.

In the coming years, the following companies will supply the cables for TenneT’s projects:

• Brugg Kabel GmbH (Germany/Switzerland)
• LS Cable & System Ltd. (South Korea)
• NKT GmbH & Co. KG (Germany)
• Prysmian Netherlands B.V. (The Netherlands)
• Südkabel GmbH (Germany)
• Taihan Netherlands B.V. (The Netherlands/South Korea)
• TBEA Shandong Luneng Taishan Cable Co., Ltd. (China)
• TKF BV Twentsche Kabelfabriek (The Netherlands)

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Accommodating increasing connections

In announcing the cable supply, TenneT cites the increasing number of distributed energy resources (DERs) across the two countries: “The transition from fossil to renewable energy demands a lot from the power grid.

“Households are switching to heat pumps, roofs are full of solar panels, wind farms provide sustainably generated energy, and businesses and industry want to switch to electricity en masse.

“To meet this demand, TenneT has to substantially expand the high-voltage grid. This not only requires a lot of specialised work, such as engineering work, it also demands speed and simplification in the execution of projects.”

Within the Framework Agreements, states Tennet, suppliers know what their portfolio will look like in the coming years expediting project completion times.

“With that knowledge, market parties can stock up on standard materials. And although we have no obligation to purchase, this way we make it easier and more efficient for the projects.”

According to the TSO, selected projects can thus have their cables delivered on demand, saving just under six months.