Our Strategy

As we face the challenge to design and develop the grid that can support society’s climate ambitions, our strategy has never been more important. This is an engineering challenge on an unprecedented scale, requiring us to be crystal clear and tightly aligned on our plans to design and develop the necessary infrastructure.

We are guided by a clear purpose, to connect everyone with a brighter energy future.  Our promise is Lighting the way ahead together, which we deliver on as one company, working closely together with our share- and stakeholders.

 

Energise our people and organisation

With an inclusive and safe environment where people enjoy coming to work. We will build a leadership model that empowers, inspires and creates growth opportunities, so everyone can perform at their best and work as one.

Secure supply today and tomorrow

By maintaining the grid to meet reliability targets and operating it to its maximum capability. We will design solutions for balancing the grid in the future, while meeting societal objectives and realising our grid projects as promised.

Drive the energy transition 

TenneT, as transmission system operator, is a critical player in the historic journey to a secure, reliable, and zero-carbon energy system. Transmission grids are the backbone of the green energy revolution and as a green grid operator and thought leader, TenneT is playing a key role in meeting this historic challenge.

Safeguard our financial health

By implementing a regulatory framework to support our strategy and by delivering a return in line with what our capital providers expect, as well as by raising the necessary external financing. 

As we rise to the challenges of the energy transition, TenneT has clear and inspiring principles to guide our employees’ mindset and behaviour. Our three principles are Ownership, Courage and Connection.

Ownership

We are accountable for our words, actions and decisions. 

Courage

We are honest, open and clear about what we think. We dare to make bold decisions, take ambitious initiatives and are willing to learn from our mistakes. 

Connection

We are involved with and work actively with other parties. The challenge of the energy transition requires us to do things differently and collaborate with a wide range of partners. We know that we do not have all the answers ourselves.

Although  we are growing and changing at speed and scale to meet the demands of the energy transition, we strongly believe we must grow responsibly and sustainably.

For us, responsible growth means achieving our goals through more avenues than linear growth alone. The energy transition is a challenge that requires new ideas, new technologies and new behaviours that build on the strong foundations we have laid. 

Relentlessly growing our organisation and expanding our grid is not sustainable.  To get to where we need to be, we must have new solutions that help us move fast and make smarter use of our existing assets. And when we build new assets, we do so in the confidence that they will future-proof our grid and provide long-term value to society.

Read more in our 2022 Annual Report  

 

Target Grid is TenneT’s vision of an integrated, onshore and offshore, cross-border electricity grid, which is crucial to the climate-neutral energy system in 2045. Our Target Grid visualises the electricity grid in 2045, which is of crucial importance for TenneT today. It creates clarity on what we need to do today to be ready for the future and it provides the basis for our current and future strategies.
More information on Target Grid can be found here

TenneT works with two formal strategy processes, the yearly and the five year cycle. The yearly cycle reviews the execution of the existing strategy. It provides an analysis of the external context, the impact on TenneT and concludes what the most important challenges are for our organisation. This yearly process feeds into the business performance cycle. Our five year cycle is the formal strategy process according to Articles of Association TenneT Holding B.V. and Policy State participations (Nota Staatdeelnemingen) of the Dutch Ministry of Finance. This process consists of four steps. Step 1 is the strategy exploration, which delivers an environmental and business analysis that creates the informational prerequisites for the formulation of our strategy. Step 2 is the strategy formulation and review, which is sets out the course of action to meet TenneT’s strategic objectives and achieve the organisational vision. Step 3 is the strategy deployment, which is putting the chosen strategy into action and cascade strategies into operations. And the final step, step 4 is the strategy consultation & approval, the final approval by the Supervisory Board.

In the five year strategy process our stakeholders (TSO’s, peers, other (energy) market participants, regulators, investors, NGOs and governments) are involved during the first two steps. Our shareholder has a formal consultation right, which is also covered in step 1 and step 2 of the process.