In order to secure the energy transition, the federal government is joining the Dutch network operator Tennet. This could reduce electricity prices in the medium term.
In the summer of 2024, the federal government’s entry into Tennet failed because of the FDP: its boss at the time, Finance Minister Christian Lindner, blocked the deal with the Tennet ownerthe Dutch state, after two years of negotiations – to act as guardian of the debt brake. Black-Red now wants to invest 7.6 billion euros to acquire 25.1 percent of Tennet Deutschland – and thus a blocking minority on the supervisory board.
The participation grants “strong rights of influence,” argues Lars Klingbeil’s (SPD) Federal Ministry of Finance in a letter to the Bundestag’s budget committee, which is available to the taz. With its participation, the federal government wants to support network expansion and protect “critical infrastructure”.
The four German network operators need hundreds of billions to expand the lines by 2045, for example for lines that transport wind power to the industrial centers in western and southern Germany. Because power grids are natural monopolies and because construction and maintenance of the lines are immensely expensive, the federal government already has a 20 percent stake in 50Hertz through the state bank KfW; TransnetBW partly belongs to Baden-Württemberg. Denmark, France and Italy also hold shares in their network operators.
Tennet wants to cash in
With its approximately 14,000 kilometer long high-voltage network, Tennet is the largest of the four transmission system operators in Germany. In 2010, Tennet paid the energy company Eon 1.1 billion euros for 10,700 kilometers of lines. The network has now grown by 3,300 kilometers – and is worth around 20 times as much as it was back then. But: The Hague no longer wants to invest in the German power grid, but would rather cash in: The Netherlands recently sold another Tennet share to investors.
Stefan Körzell from the board of the German Federation of Trade Unions praised him Entry of the federal government. “We unions have long been calling for network expansion to be financed more with public capital,” he explained. Because the state can get money relatively cheaply, it can Save billions in financing costs and reduce network fees – and thus electricity prices for everyone – in the medium term.
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