Star Metro - Germany acquires power grid stake from Dutch operator

The 3.3 billion euro ($3.9 billion) acquisition of a 25.1 percent stake in the publicly owned Dutch group will help secure extra financing for much-needed upgrades of the grid in Europe's biggest economy.

TenneT is a major network operator in Germany, with 14,000 kilometres (8,700 miles) of high-voltage lines stretching between the southern state of Bavaria and Schleswig-Holstein in the north.

Public lender KfW, acting for the German state, signed the deal with TenneT.

"Achieving our goals in energy policy depends on an expansion of the electricity grid according to demand," German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche said in a statement.

Berlin is helping to ensure that requirements for new capital will be secured in the coming years, Reiche said, adding: "This investment in tomorrow's infrastructure strengthens Germany."

TenneT CEO Manon van Beek said the acquisition represented an "important milestone".

"We are operating in a world where geopolitics, economics and also energy security are increasingly intertwined," she told a press conference.

Like much of Germany's infrastructure, the power grids are in dire need of upgrading, and Chancellor Friedrich Merz has vowed to ramp up public spending to fix the problems.

TenneT had already announced in September that an international consortium was acquiring 46 percent of the shares in its German business.

The Dutch group will keep a 28.9 percent stake.

The acquisitions by Germany and the consortium provide certainty for "much-needed grid reinforcements", van Beek said.

They "also contribute to a very robust, very resilient electricity system in Europe", she said.

O.Gauthier--SMC