Smarter and faster grid reinforcement
The huge task facing TenneT
Smarter and faster grid reinforcement
Due to the increasing supply and demand of sustainably generated electricity, the Dutch electricity grid needs to be modernised and expanded. This huge task is made even more urgent by the growing risk of grid congestion. Acceleration is the key, and it is a puzzle that several parties need to solve together.
Between now and the end of 2040, TenneT will invest 65 billion euros in modernising and expanding the Dutch electricity grid. Part of this investment will involve concrete, steel and copper (high-voltage substations, underground cables, overhead lines) and part will involve complementary projects, such as measures to stimulate circularity and biodiversity.
To help it tackle this huge task, TenneT has signed framework agreements with various parties. One of these parties is E-MERGE, a consortium featuring Witteveen+Bos, Antea Group and Bilfinger that is actively contributing to TenneT’s EU-300 programme for technical and spatial engineering services, typically on large, complex and integrated processes with long lead times.
Greater capacity
One example of E-MERGE’s involvement is on the preliminary phase of construction of two high-voltage substations in Emmen, which includes the installation of underground cables to connect the substations to the high-voltage grid. These new substations will increase transport capacity by two to three times, enabling the growing supply and demand of sustainable energy to be met.
On another project, Noord-Holland Noord, a new 380 kV high-voltage connection is being built that links the existing 150 kV substation in Middenmeer to a planned substation on the current 380 kV line through Beverwijk–Oostzaan–Middenmeer.
Integrated approach to complex challenge
These projects demand an integrated approach, with various workflows – including planning, engineering and studies – running partly in parallel in both the exploratory and design phases.
These parallel workflows include alternative routes and locations being investigated together with the client, effects on people and the environment being studied through environmental impact assessments, and soil surveys identifying the composition and strength of soil as well as water layers, which is crucial for the design and permits.
Participation – i.e. coordination with local stakeholders such as residents, landowners and administrators – is essential to this approach, with a preferred alternative being worked towards that will later be developed in more detail.
Overlap
Considering the complexity involved and the need for local coordination, it is no surprise that these large-scale, far-reaching projects take ten to twelve years to complete. About two thirds of that time is taken up by the planning and design phases, with construction taking around three to four years.
In the first phase, measures are created to shorten the implementation phase. One such measure is adopting an integrated project approach that identifies workflows and mutual dependencies. Because these workflows often overlap, a traditionally sequential approach becomes a parallel, partly overlapping one.
In 2026, the current framework agreement with TenneT remains in force as tendering for the new EU-400 framework agreement begins.
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