TenneT also responsible for construction and management of offshore transmission grid

22-02-2010 Dutch electricity transmission operator TenneT is delighted that Minister Van der Hoeven of Economic Affairs sent a letter to the Lower House of Dutch Parliament last Friday, announcing the formulation of a bill which will make TenneT also responsible for the construction and management of the offshore transmission grid. This will allow TenneT to actively contribute towards a sustainable and constant energy supply system, both now and in the future.

The European Union’s ambition is to develop a sustainable international energy landscape. The Dutch Cabinet has formulated the goal of increasing the Netherlands’ wind energy capacity to 6000 megawatts by 2020. To this end, the production of energy through offshore wind farms is considered to be a sustainable opportunity. TenneT already started to prepare for an offshore grid in 2008, and in 2009 actually began drawing up plans for bringing offshore wind energy onshore at Borssele and IJmuiden.

As TenneT is now managing the high-voltage grid on both land and sea, optimal integration into the larger Dutch and Northwest European grid is now possible. Furthermore, the procurement of transpower (already active in connecting the North Sea wind farms off the coast of Germany to the grid) means that TenneT may benefit from additional purchasing advantages.

For more information, visit (Dutch):

Regering.nl
Kamerbrief Toezegging inzake aanleg en beheer net op zee
TenneT position paper Infra op zee