Gasunie has ambitious plans to transform from the current gas infrastructure company into a sustainable energy infrastructure company. In addition to natural gas transport, the focus in 2030 will increasingly be on green gas (biomethane), hydrogen, CO2 and heat.
Han Fennema, CEO of Gasunie: ‘The investments and transformation are necessary for the Netherlands and Germany to become climate neutral by 2050. Around 30-50% of the energy supply in 2050 will consist of molecules in gaseous form. Energy can be stored cheaply in this form and transported over greater distances. Our infrastructure will be linked to the electricity grid at many points. At any moment, green power can be converted to gas and vice versa, depending on supply and demand.”
Hydrogen backbone
The most ambitious project that Gasunie has been working on since 2020 is the development of a national transport network for hydrogen, the hydrogen backbone. This will connect the large industrial centres in the Netherlands and northern Germany to installations where blue and green hydrogen will be produced.
For this network, Gasunie is using existing gas pipelines that have become available due to the declining demand for natural gas. The backbone is expected to be in place in 2026. It involves a total investment of € 1.5 billion.
Most transition projects are financed together with customers and other partners, supported by government subsidies. Janneke Hermes, CFO of Gasunie: “We are currently estimating our own share of the necessary investments at a total of € 7 billion, spread over the period 2021 to 2030. That is almost as large an amount as the total value of our current assets. We will also be borrowing substantial amounts, for example by issuing green bonds.”
Gasunie achieved a turnover of € 1,372 million in 2020, an increase of 7% compared to 2019. Profit after tax was € 600 million; € 188 million higher than in 2019.
Image: Gasunie/YouTube
