Dutch grid operator TenneT falls to first-half operating loss

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -Dutch grid operator TenneT fell to an operating loss of 685 million euros ($700 million) in the first half of 2022, it said on Friday, largely due to higher costs it plans to recoup from customers later.

In the same period a year earlier the state-owned company, which is the largest operator of electric grids in the Netherlands and Germany, reported operating profit of 300 million euros.

TenneT is carrying out major investment programmes to expand and improve its network, including more international interconnections and new lines running from burgeoning offshore wind farms in the North Sea to the Dutch and German coasts.

Investments were 1.6 billion euros in the first half, the state-owned company said.

The company said in a statement grid operation expenses had increased due to both higher prices and higher volumes of electricity moving through its network.

It said areas of congestion were increasing as industries move to electrical power.

"The necessary outages in combination with the increasing infeed of renewables cause additional transmission restrictions and grid losses," it said.

"Transmission restrictions are further impacted by changes in the availability of generating units as a result of the Ukraine war."

($1 = 0.9789 euros)

(Reporting by Toby SterlingEditing by David Goodman and David Evans)