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PRESS RELEASE
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15 November 2011 Interim statement Q3 2011
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Elia confirms the financial forecasts for 2011 and receives the first dividend from 50Hertz Transmission.
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Elia presents its vision for the future regarding an offshore grid.
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Philip Heylen joins Elia’s Board of Directors.
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Elia signs a consultancy contract with SEC.
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Further steps in European electricity market integration and consolidation of European energy exchanges.
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Eleanore project launched.
Financial forecasts As reported in the 2011 half-yearly results, Elia is unable to give any concrete profit forecasts since the annual result is dependent upon parameters that will either not be known until the end of 2011 (such as the inflation figure for December 2011) or else can only be calculated at that time (e.g. average Belgian 10-year interest rate; the beta of Elia shares; and the total investment of Eurogrid/50Hertz). Investments and large-scale maintenance works for 2011 are on schedule to be completed as planned. In September 2011, 15 months after the takeover in Germany, Elia received for the first time a dividend from 50Hertz Transmission. It came to €36.4 million. Pursuant to legal requirements, Elia submitted a new tariff proposal for the period 2012-2015 to the federal regulator CREG at the end of June. Negotiations in this regard are currently going on. The regulator is expected to issue a final ruling about this by the end of December 2011 at the latest. Elia presents its vision for the future regarding an offshore grid Elia presented in a publication its vision for the future regarding the development of an offshore grid in the North Sea. The concept was elaborated in consultation with the project developers for the wind farms off the Belgian coast and is based on a gradual development of a closely intermeshed grid at sea. The steps in this process coincide with the scheduled commissioning of the concessions that have been granted off the Belgian coast. This offshore grid would have the same benefits in terms of reliability as the onshore grid, due to its intermeshed structure, optimisation of investments and fewer subsea cable lines to the coast and the onshore grid. The goal is to gradually establish two platforms in the North Sea featuring gas-insulated substations (GISs) and connected to each other and the high-voltage Stevin and Zeebrugge substations by 220-kV lines. The offshore grid would be constructed in phases, in parallel with the construction of the seven wind-farm concessions and might be operational as early as 2014. It would also serve as an outpost for a future connection linking up with an international platform. This approach would enable access to other energy sources, including hydroelectric power from Scandinavia, which could be drawn on in the event of insufficient wind in the North Sea, and would enable wind power to be stored for later use when generation outstrips consumption.
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