We are primarily tasked with providing power transmission services, system services and facilitating the energy market. Our core tasks follow from our appointment as grid operator under the Dutch 'Elektriciteitswet' (E-wet) and the German 'Energiewirtschaftsgesetz' (EnWG).
TenneT presents Hub and Spoke concept for large scale wind energy on the North Sea.
Read moreTenneT manages the high-voltage grid in the Netherlands and large parts of Germany. TenneT transmits electricity at 110,000 volts (110 kV) and higher. With around 23,000 kilometres of high-voltage lines, we cross borders and connect countries.
The energy sector is developing rapidly. The process of European market integration began some years ago. Its purpose is to create a single European market that enables market parties to trade gas and electricity across national borders easily and efficiently.
We provide transparency data on our operations on our Dutch and German transparency page and on ENTSO-E.
To transparency pagesOur vision is to be one of the most transparent Transmission System Operators (TSO) in Europe and thereby creating value for society. In this Energy Insights section we present selected energy related topics and show data, information and valuable insights.
TenneT is a leading European electricity transmission system operator (TSO), with activities in the Netherlands and in Germany. We strive to ensure a reliable and uninterrupted supply of electricity in our high-voltage grid for some 41 million people.
TenneT is planning to install two to four kilometres of underground superconducting high-voltage cable as part of the Dutch electricity grid. The project will be a world first: a section of superconducting cable of this length has not yet been installed anywhere else in the world. With this project, TenneT wants to meet society’s demand to install more high-voltage lines underground.
HTSC stands for ‘High-Temperature Super-Conducting’. Superconductors can transmit up to a thousand times more electricity than copper, the main material currently used in underground high-voltage cables. Because a superconducting cable is cooled to a temperature of approximately minus 200 degrees Celsius, it has no electrical resistance and creates no electricity losses. The superconducting state is achieved by means of refrigeration using liquid nitrogen. The 150 kV cables currently in use require a strip of soil of at least 12 metres wide to dissipate the heat generated. HTSC cables can be laid much closer together because they generate no heat, so that a 3-metre-wide strip will probably be sufficient. In addition, HTSC cables do not generate any magnetic field.
TenneT is working together with several leading knowledge institutes on this project. Researchers at Delft University of Technology, University of Twente, the Institute for Science and Sustainable Development (IWO), HAN University of Applied Sciences and Imtech Marine will investigate topics including the control engineering aspects and the requirements that the cable must meet. The project is scheduled for completion in June 2019.
TenneT does not expect that superconducting cables can be applied in current projects. Further research must be conducted and additional experience gained before such a step can be taken. Initially, it will only be possible to use superconducting cables in sections of up to four kilometres. For the time being, longer sections cannot be realized because of the nitrogen supply required to cool the cable. Superconducting cables are also expensive, costing approximately three times as much as a standard 110 kV or 150 kV cables. However, the technology is developing quickly. It is expected that it will be possible to use superconducting cables more widely and/or across longer distances in future, thanks to improved cooling methods and mass production.
HTSC cables are already used on a small scale in other countries, but they are usually not part of the meshed high-voltage grid and the length of the relevant cable section generally does not exceed one kilometre. In 2009 a 600-metre section of HTSC cable was installed in New York, and in 2014 a 1-km-long section of superconducting cable was taken into operation in Essen, Germany, to replace a 10 kV medium-voltage line. The demonstration project to be undertaken by TenneT involves a cable section of two to four kilometres.
TenneT is participating in two major European research programmes: PROMOTioN and MIGRATE. These programmes were initiated in response to new challenges related to the development of offshore power grids and the increasingly important role of solar and wind energy.
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TenneT presents Hub and Spoke concept for large scale wind energy on the North Sea.
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TenneT is investing heavily in Germany to connect offshore wind farms in the North Sea to the German high-voltage grid.
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