TenneT, which increased net profits to €418m last year from 2013’s €357m, said it is poised to invest about €20bn between now and 2023.

By that date it plans to grid-connect 3.45GW of Dutch offshore wind under an agreement reached with that country’s government last year.

By 2019 TenneT also expects to build 7.1GW of connections for German wind, saying this will “easily meet the German government’s offshore wind target of 6.5GW