Press release

Major steps taken in implementation of Vision 2030 investment agenda

Groningen, 4 March 2022 – Gasunie intends to expand its investment programme for the years through to 2030. A large number of investments in sustainable energy infrastructure have already been planned for 2022. However, the Russian invasion of Ukraine is reason to also direct additional focus this year at security of supply for the Netherlands, Germany and Europe. With this in mind, Gasunie is exploring ways to further increase the Netherlands’ LNG import capacity this year. Talks with the German government on the construction of a new terminal for LNG and hydrogen in Brunsbüttel are in the closing stages. Gasunie hopes to be able to start building the terminal this year.

Han Fennema, Gasunie CEO: ‘As we publish our annual report today, events around the Russian invasion of Ukraine follow each other in rapid succession. Our hearts here at Gasunie go out to the population suffering the atrocities of war. It is clear that this war also impacts the European energy markets in which Gasunie operates. However, in this report for 2021, it is impossible for us to make any assertions as to the implications of these developments.’

‘What we do know is that Gasunie makes an important contribution towards ensuring security of supply for our society and our economy. By further diversifying gas flows, we are making our energy system more robust and we can reduce our dependence on Russia. We took the first steps in this direction years ago by investing in projects such as Gate Terminal. On top of that, we will continue to team up with other energy companies in building the new, sustainable energy system of the future to take Europe to climate neutrality by 2050.’

Janneke Hermes, Gasunie’s CFO: ‘We took major steps in 2021 in implementing our investment agenda of € 7 billion through to 2030. In 2022, we will break ground on the first projects. Work on WarmtelinQ (residual heat) is underway, and we will make a decision on Porthos (carbon transport and storage) this year. In addition, we have been asked by the Dutch government to start the construction of nationwide hydrogen infrastructure. The HyTransport project in the Rotterdam area is a first step in that direction. Additionally, we are accelerating investments in the terminal for LNG and hydrogen in Brunsbüttel (Germany) and hope to soon be able to present new options to increase the Netherlands’ LNG import capacity.’

Gasunie’s investments are relevant to the achievement of the national Dutch climate targets. If we are given the green light to implement all our current investment plans through to 2030, we can help industry and various sectors reduce their carbon emissions faster. Energy transport through our pipelines can then reach climate neutrality in 2045. New investments in the transport and storage of ‘green molecules’ after 2030 have the potential to shorten the pathway to carbon neutrality, although this does hinge on domestic demand for natural gas continuing to fall over the coming decades.

In 2021, Gasunie transported 79.3 bcm of natural gas (+0.7%) in the Netherlands. In Germany, we transported 27.3 bcm (+6.6%). To enable the closure of the Groningen gas field, we are adding nitrogen to imported natural gas so that it can be used by households in the Netherlands. This way, we avoided the production of 39.3 bcm of Groningen gas over the past gas year, which ran from October 2020 to October 2021. Hard work has also gone into the building of the new nitrogen plant in Zuidbroek in 2021, which involved additional efforts to deal with the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic as well as possible. 

We developed an entirely new CSR policy in 2021. Our aim for 2030 is to halve our methane emissions and reduce our carbon emissions by 30% (compared to 2020). These are ambitious targets because Gasunie has already achieved great reductions in the past. By that same year, 2030, we also aim to be 8% more energy-efficient and procure half of our materials as per the principles of circular procurement, and we want all our major sites to contribute to biodiversity. We are currently achieving the first tangible results. Over the past year, we managed to reduce our carbon emissions by 3.25% while transport volumes remained unchanged.

Gasunie’s operating result decreased by € 444 million compared to last year, primarily as a result of a reversal of a previously recognised impairment of € 300 million in 2020. Adjusted for this effect, the operating result comes out at € 144 million lower than in 2020. The increased depreciation costs of € 21 million compared to 2020 can also be largely attributed to this reversal.

Energy costs of gas transport were up € 110 million on last year. about 80% of which can be explained by higher energy rates in the second half of 2021 in particular. In addition, an increase in the use of the installations brought with it higher energy usage. The higher energy costs in 2021 will largely be recalculated by the regulatory authority, with the effect that in the coming years Gasunie will recoup these higher costs as higher revenue.

Operating expenses were up € 15 million on last year, mainly due to the energy transition activities being scaled up further, which resulted in a stark increase in the number of employees on the payroll as well as in the number of agency and temporary workers we engage. In 2021, Gasunie spent more than 260,000 person-hours on the energy transition. Converted into person-years this amounts to more than 150 FTEs.

The result after taxation decreased by € 289 million compared to last year. Adjusted for the effect of the reversal of the previously recognised impairment, the result after taxation was € 64 million lower.

Our annual report is available online at: www.gasuniereport2021.nl

Gasunie is a European energy infrastructure company. Gasunie’s network is one of the largest high-pressure pipeline networks in Europe, comprising over 17,000 kilometres of pipeline in the Netherlands and northern Germany. Gasunie provides natural and green gas transport services through its subsidiaries, Gasunie Transport Services B.V. (GTS) in the Netherlands and Gasunie Deutschland in Germany. With its cross-border gas infrastructure and services, Gasunie facilitates TTF, which has become the leading European gas trading point. Gasunie also provides other gas infrastructure services, including gas storage and LNG. Gasunie wants to help accelerate the transition to a carbon-neutral energy supply and believes that gas-related innovations, for instance in the form of renewable gases such as hydrogen and green gas, can make an important contribution. Both existing and new gas infrastructure play a key role here. Gasunie also plays an active part in the development of other energy infrastructure to support the energy transition, such as district heat grids.