European Investment Bank to fund Randstad380 connection

19-10-2005 The European Investment Bank is extending a EUR 160m loan to TenneT to help fund the construction of a new high voltage connection for the Randstad region in the western Netherlands. TenneT in the context of the Randstad380 project is making an investment in the aggregate amount of EUR 400m in the new power transmission connections in the region.

To this end TenneT’s CEO, Mel Kroon MBA, and Torsten Gersfelt as EIB’s Vice President earlier today in Luxembourg signed the financing contract. The European Investment Bank, or EIB for short, is a long-term finance house operating under the umbrella of the European Union. The implementation of Trans European Grids represents one of the key objectives in EIB's operations. These trans-European energy networks and transport and telecommunication networks are deemed to be a crucial factor in the European Union's social and economic integration. EIB has developed into one of Europe’s leading providers of bank loans in support of these projects, having to date made available a total of EUR 8.2bn in loans to be invested in energy networks.

The EIB loan in aid of TenneT's Randstad380 project has been earmarked for the installation of some 150 kilometres' worth of transmission grid in the Randstad region and the construction of the associated switching stations and other amenities, in a project which will take ten years to complete (from 2005 to 2015).