TenneT made investments of EUR 3.4 billion in 2020 and in the course of 2020-21 TenneT is expanding its workforce by 30% to handle its increasing workload. TenneT is building new connections, strengthening and expanding its grid and upgrading its system operations to meet the EU’s new target to cut emissions by at least 55% by 2030.
TenneT reported solid financial results again in 2020, with underlying revenue of EUR 4,450 million, an increase of 9% compared to EUR 4,084 million in 2019. Underlying EBIT (excluding special items) increased to EUR 796 million in 2020 (2019: EUR 753 million). TenneT anticipates paying a EUR 149 million dividend to its shareholder the Dutch State, bringing the cumulative amount paid over the last 10 years to EUR 1.2 billion. The majority of these dividends are attributable to TenneT's German operations.
Capex (investments) totalled EUR 3.4 billion in 2020, of which EUR 1.3 billion are related to projects in the Netherlands and EUR 2.1 billion in Germany. Tennet is scaling up the potential of renewable energy in the North Sea. In 2020, TenneT carried out a record number of innovative offshore activities and its offshore wind connections continued to grow. At the beginning of 2020, TenneT’s 12th offshore grid connection in Germany was completed, with BorWin3. TenneT and National Grid Ventures will explore the development of a multi-purpose interconnector to simultaneously connect up to 4 GW of British and Dutch offshore windfarms between the two nations’ electricity systems. And in close cooperation with the German, Dutch and Danish governments, TenneT is also exploring a joint energy hub in the North Sea connected to these three countries.
Together with an increase in onshore wind and solar projects, 42 ongoing projects were completed in 2020. TenneT began the construction of two new 380kV electricity highways in the north of the Netherlands and in the southern Dutch province of Zeeland. In Germany, TenneT commissioned a connection in the north, which will enable it to transport renewable energy to Denmark. Further steps were also taken for the SuedLink connection, aimed at transporting renewable energy from the North Sea to consumption centres in southern Germany.
In order to maintain and expand our onshore and offshore grid and contribute to the energy transition, TenneT is expected to recruit at least another 600 new employees in Europe in 2021 for its operations in the Netherlands and Germany, equating to 30% growth in personnel over the 2020-21 period.