Long-term partnership for electricity grid expansion

The framework agreement has an initial term of four years with three two-year extension options and a maximum value of €2.5 billion. VOLTA Civiel - a joint venture between Mourik Infra and Dusseldorp Infra, Demolition and Environmental Engineering BV - and Dura Vermeer will take a back-up position.

An independent and sustainable energy supply requires a significant expansion of the electricity grid. The rapid growth in the number of wind turbines and solar panels and the continued growth in demand for electricity from more sustainable industry, business and consumers requires, among other things, a rapid expansion of the transmission grid. TenneT is working on this every day and will invest around 60 billion in the Dutch high-voltage grid over the next 10 years.

In order to eliminate and prevent bottlenecks in the high-voltage grid, the grid operator will upgrade a large number of existing high-voltage overhead lines over the next few years, enabling them to transmit at least 30% more electricity. Around 600 kilometers will be upgraded over the next 10 years. In the same period, TenneT plans to build around 400 kilometers of new high-voltage lines. This means a tripling of the current work package.  

With this framework agreement, we want to establish a partnership with BAM Infra Nederland, Strukton Wegen & Beton and VolkerWessels Hoogspanning Civiel to carry out the civil works for these projects. This will mainly involve preparing the sites for construction, building temporary access roads to the mast sites, installing and reinforcing more than 1,500 mast foundations, and restoring the land and the surrounding area to its natural state. This work will take place before and after the actual reinforcement of existing lines and the construction of new line connections. TenneT has chosen this approach so that the parties specialized in line and mast construction can work as efficiently and quickly as possible. This is necessary because the capacity of these parties is scarce.

Sjouke Bootsma, Director Supply Chain Management:

‘By building long-term relationships with these partners, we can invest in smart ways of working together. This kind of long-term collaboration is crucial in times when acceleration is needed. They also provide certainty for all parties involved. A win-win situation.’

Our goal is to structurally reduce harmful emissions when implementing projects. This is in line with our partners' sustainability ambitions. This is why our partners strive to structurally reduce harmful emissions right from the start of the work, for example by using less polluting equipment (Stage V) and the new generation of biodiesel (HVO100). This results in an 88% reduction in CO2 and an 83% reduction in particulate matter compared to conventional equipment and fuel. In addition, together with our partners, we have committed to a transition path leading to zero emissions.