AMSTERDAM, March 27 (Reuters) - The Dutch government is considering alternatives to a sale of electrical grid TenneT's German operations to the German government, the Netherlands' finance minister said on Wednesday.
A plan to sell the German operations for 20-25 billion euros ($48.67 billion) was nearly agreed last year but has faced delays due to German budget difficulties.
"The negotiations are taking longer than I had hoped," Steven van Weyenberg said in a debate in parliament.
"It is and continues to be the Cabinet's intention to reach an agreement with the German government, who told us they really wanted to acquire TenneT Germany," he said.
However, he said that the government must now explore "alternative routes" for TenneT Germany, including a possible sale of part of the business to a private party.
The Dutch state owns 100% of TenneT, which has roughly two-thirds of its operations in Germany.
Both governments agree in principle that a sale to the German government of the German operations would make sense, given the importance of the grid for the transition to renewable energy.
TenneT has plans to spend more than 100 billion euros in the coming decade on the offshore and onshore electric grid, in what is Europe's largest capital spending plan.
Van Weyenberg said that the government is not yet actively pursuing alternatives to a sale to Germany.
"That moment is not yet reached but it is coming closer," he said. ($1 = 0.9246 euros) (Reporting by Toby Sterling and Bart Meijer; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle and Christina Fincher)
