TenneT delivers record EUR 4.5 billion in grid expansion projects to enable integration of renewables and deliver on energy transition

• Record investment in onshore and offshore grids in 2022 with a workforce increase of 777 to 7,397 employees.
• Solid financial results in 2022 with Underlying EBIT increased to EUR 1,210 million in 2022.
• Extraordinary impact of high grid stabilisation costs reflected in a negative IFRS EBIT and accounting loss of EUR 976 million.

TenneT continued to perform very well in 2022 despite geopolitical changes and the resulting turbulent market environment as well as rising energy costs. This increased the grid stabilisation expenditure and caused the negative impact on IFRS earnings.

"Despite great pressure on security of electricity and energy supply, unprecedented volatility in energy markets, high gas and electricity prices, we have again delivered on our promise to provide a high grid availability of 99.9996% overall and nearly EUR 4.5 billion investments in projects to facilitate the energy transition.",Manon van Beek, CEO TenneT

Over the next 10 years, TenneT's annual investments are expected to grow to at least EUR 8 billion. From 2011 to 2022, TenneT invested well over EUR 30 billion in onshore and offshore electricity infrastructure in the Netherlands (EUR 9.4 billion) and Germany (EUR 21.1 billion).

Financial results 2022: energy transition progress positively impacts all financial indicators

Revenues increased from EUR 6,367 million in 2021 to EUR 9,840 million in 2022. With a growth of 23%, total asset volume in 2022 reached EUR 40,966 million. TenneT again reported solid financial results in 2022, with underlying EBIT increased to EUR 1,210 million in 2022 (2021: EUR 834 million).

According to IFRS accounting standards, TenneT's regulatory future reimbursement on extraordinary grid stabilisation costs are not recognised, leading to a stated EBIT accounting loss of EUR 976 million.

Based on the results and our dividend strategy, TenneT anticipates paying a EUR 207 million dividend to its shareholder the Dutch state, bringing the cumulative amount paid over the last 10 years to EUR 1.4 billion.

Key underlying (1) financial figures (in millions of euros)	2022	2021
Revenue	9,840	6,367
Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT)	1,210	834
Investments in fixed assets	4,493	3,969
Total assets	40,966	31,961
Net interest-bearing debt	20,398	15,584
Equity	9,495	7,644

Long-term senior unsecured credit ratings for TenneT Holding B.V. in 2022 remained unchanged and were reaffirmed by both Standard & Poor's (A-/stable outlook) and Moody's Investor Service (A3/stable outlook).

"Our financial performance is once again solid. As a healthy and stable grid operator we are at the heart of the most extensive change to our energy system. For TenneT, this means a sharply increasing investment portfolio and corresponding equity requirements. We are in continuous dialogue with the German and Dutch governments to ensure these rising equity needs.", Arina Freitag, CFO TenneT

MOST IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENTS OF THE YEAR

New connection system standard to meet Esbjerg targets for large scale offshore wind energy
With the Esbjerg Declaration in May 2022, new targets for North Sea offshore wind were set. It is the first intergovernmental agreement between Belgium, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands envisaging up to 150 GW of offshore wind to be built until 2050, and 65 GW until 2030. In order to deliver on that target, TenneT will connect 40 GW of offshore windenergy capacity in the Netherlands and Germany by 2030.

To meet these ambitions, TenneT has developed next generation of offshore grid connection systems with the two gigawatt direct current standard (2 GW HVDC, high voltage direct current). These connection systems allow larger wind farms to be connected and more electricity to be delivered than previous systems. Fewer platforms, cables and resources will also lead to less environmental impact. TenneT launched large-scale tenders for these offshore grid connections with the new transmission capacity size in 2022. The 2 GW offshore converter platforms are hub-ready and are intended to be connected to a future meshed overlay DC grid. TenneT in 2022 also started to explore options for energy hubs at sea. These will not only connect wind farms to onshore grids, but also serve as connections between North Sea countries.

Green financing firmly rooted in TenneT's DNA
In view of large investments, the company makes use of green financing in accessing capital markets and debt financing. In 2022, TenneT issued EUR 6.85 billion in Green Bonds and strengthened its status as the largest European corporate EUR Green Debt issuer, with currently approximately EUR 19.5 billion of debt outstanding across different formats (senior, hybrid, USPP and Schuldscheine) issued in the last 7 years.
The Dutch state as shareholder contributed with over EUR 1.2 billion in 2022 to cover the capital requirements of the Dutch part of TenneT. The equity requirement in the Netherlands will be around EUR 10 billion, in Germany around EUR 15 billion until 2032.

Congestion, redispatch and high grid stabilisation costs: undesirable side-effects of the sharp increase of renewables and disrupted energy market
System costs increased significantly in 2022 due to unprecedented high energy prices and increased costs for contracting electricity on wholesale markets to maintain grid balance or to offset grid losses. This trend of increasing prices already started in September 2021 and continued during 2022 amongst others due to the war in Ukraine and its impact on the grid situation in Europe as well as due to changes in European legislation on cross-border trading and Market Coupling.

In the Netherlands, a rising electricity demand and an unprecedented boom of grid connection requests led to a temporary halt of the issuance of new connections requests. To solve this and accommodate different stakeholder interests, a national consultation process was initiated in 2022 to look for more flexibility in the electricity demand of industry. Under the auspices of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate, the National Grid Congestion Action Programme was launched to create more space on the electricity grid in every possible way. Other participating parties are TenneT, distribution system operators, ACM, regional governments and market parties. In addition, TenneT developed measures to operate the grid in a more flexible manner and making use of the so-called emergency lane of the grids to facilitate connection requests for additional wind and solar farms.

In Germany, the costs for congestion management, balancing power and other system services rose significantly in 2022. Apart from the strong increase of wholesale prices this was also due to higher electricity volumes needed to stabilize the grid. These costs did not entail a rise of network tariffs as they were compensated by a federal grant.

OTHER KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN 2022

In 2022 TenneT worked on hundreds of onshore and offshore projects. Most notably:

• Realisation of two new offshore grid connection systems for wind energy with a total capacity of 1,400 MW, Hollandse Kust Zuid alpha and beta and completion of the topside installation of DolWin6 (900 MW) and Hollandse Kust Noord (700 MW); both projects are planned to go in service in 2023.
• Onshore, TenneT delivered almost 320 kilometres (200 in Germany, 120 in the Netherlands) of new high voltage connections or lines with increased capacity. In addition, six new high voltage substations were built.

• TenneT started replacing 140 high-voltage substations in the Netherlands. This approximately ten-year Bay Replacement programme is based on an entirely new approach using modular, off-the-shelf, standardised modules, allowing this extensive task to be carried out much faster, more efficient and safer.
• Together with the other European TSOs, TenneT supported the integration of the Ukrainian electricity system by e.g., synchronizing both the Ukrainian and Moldovan high-voltage grids with the European system.
• Despite a very tight labour market, particularly for highly skilled technical staff, TenneT was able to expand its workforce by 777, bringing the total number of employees to 7,397. Given TenneT's anticipated further growth, the availability of talent remains a critical issue. Together with universities and dedicated campaigns, TenneT aims to attract more talented people.
• The annual analyses in Germany (the 'Sonderanalyse zur Stromversorgung Winter 2022/23') and the Netherlands assessing the grid's readiness to secure electricity supply for the 2022/2023 winter period was performed with extra intensity. TenneT - together with the three other German TSOs - conducted a special grid analysis which was adopted and implemented by the German government. In the Netherlands TenneT's winter analysis showed a reassuring picture in terms of security of electricity supply.

Annual results come on the eve of a new era for TenneT as the company and its shareholder, the Dutch state, are engaged in discussions with the German government to explore a full sale of TenneT's German activities to secure long term capital requirements on acceptable terms. Such a transaction embedded in a long-term bilateral energy cooperation would enable the creation of two strong national players closely and jointly cooperating in driving the energy transition.

"Since last year, we are facing a new energy world that requires a new ownership structure for TenneT allowing us to meet significantly increased capital requirements. At the same time, continued strong cooperation on energy remains crucial for the integration of European energy markets, accelerating the energy transition and ensuring security of supply.",Manon van Beek, CEO TenneT

(1) Contrary to IFRS, 'underlying' figures recognise regulatory assets and liabilities in connection with TenneT's regulated activities whereas IFRS does not allow this. This means that amounts resulting from past events, and which are allowed or required to be settled in future grid tariffs are recognised separately.

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