TenneT ends contract with mast builders, delaying Dutch power line
15/10/2018 14:21
AMSTERDAM, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Electricity grid operator
TenneT IPO-TTH.AS on Monday said it had cancelled a contract
for the construction of electrical towers in the Netherlands,
delaying the building of a new high tension transport line in
the south of the country.
TenneT said builders Heijmans HEIJ.AS and Europoles had
failed to deliver electricity masts of the right quality on
time, breaching the 250 million euro ($290 million) contract for
the building of two high tension power lines in the north and
south of the Netherlands, granted last year.
The new power lines are needed to deal with the expected
increase in electricity in the coming years, a large part coming
from future wind farms on the Dutch part of the North Sea.
The cancellation will delay the construction of a 48
kilometres (29.8 miles) long power line in the southern province
of Zeeland, originally planned to be ready in 2020, the Dutch
government-owned operator of electrical grids in the Netherlands
and Germany said.
But it will not impact the construction of four North Sea
wind farms, known as the Borssele wind areas, whose total 1,400
megawatt capacity will travel over it after reaching the shore.
"The wind farms can be connected as planned," TenneT
spokesman Jeroen Brouwers said.
Danish energy company Orsted ORSTED.CO is building the
first two of the Borssele wind farms, scheduled to come into
operation in 2020.
The other two wind farms will be built by a consortium led
by Swiss investor Partners Group and Royal Dutch Shell
RDSa.AS , with production expected to begin in 2021.
Shares in Dutch builder Heijmans fell 13 percent in
Amsterdam on Monday, to 10.16 euros, while the terminated
contract led German mast builder Europoles to file for
administration.
($1 = 0.8630 euros)
(Reporting by Bart Meijer, editing by Ed Osmond)
((Bart.Meijer@thomsonreuters.com; +31 20 504 5006; Reuters
Messaging: bart.meijer@thomsonreuters.com))