EIB finances TenneT electricity transmission corridor

Thursday, September 16 2021

General – finance

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed a EUR 250 million loan agreement with TenneT.

The financing will be used to build a 40-km long electricity transmission corridor from Eemshaven to Vierverlaten in the province of Groningen, in the north of Netherlands, enabling the transmission of rapidly growing amounts of offshore wind energy to users in the Netherlands and beyond.

The new electricity transmission corridor will double the capacity of the existing 220kV circuit. The corridor financed by the EIB includes a new 380kV line from Eemshaven to Vierverlaten, combined with a 110kV line for part of the route, and a new 380/220kV substation in Vierverlaten.

Once the new transmission lines are operational in 2024, the existing smaller capacity lines along the same route will be decommissioned and the project will result in an overall doubling of the capacity of the existing 220kV circuit. The new grid connection will allow for the avoidance of congestion on the Netherlands’ high voltage grid, especially once nearby wind farms under development are brought into operation and the project will further facilitate transfer of green electricity to demand centres. Eemshaven is already an important power generation hub in the Netherlands and this position will only be strengthened as, for example, it recently was designated also as the landing point for the planned offshore wind farm ‘Ten noorden van de Waddeneilanden’ (700MW), by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs.