Social value creation
Social value creation
To Gasunie, social value creation means to add value to society and the company that cannot instantly be captured in financial figures. In the long run, social value can turn into economic value or other kinds of value. The billions of euros we will be investing over the coming years to enable the energy transition, for example, will contribute to future security of supply, climate targets, and help our customers continue their operations in a sustainable way. We are also creating social value by making our own day-to-day operations more sustainable and social.
Delta Rhine Corridor
The Delta Rhine Corridor is a planned multiple-pipeline underground corridor that would link the Port of Rotterdam to Chemelot and the Ruhr area. In the envisioned joint arrangement, Gasunie wants to operate the pipelines for hydrogen and natural gas and own/co-own the envisioned CO2 pipeline. By laying as much future-proof underground infrastructure as possible all at once, the project will cause less disruption and the permit process will be easier. Information meetings were held in June in places located along the envisioned corridor.
FID on Rotterdam section of hydrogen network
In the second half of 2023, Gasunie subsidiary Hynetwork Services will build the first 30 kilometres of the Dutch hydrogen network. This first section will run between the Maasvlakte 2 port area and Pernis. Industrial parties in Rotterdam should be able to connect to this in two years’ time. Shell Netherlands will be the first company to use the pipeline.
Gasunie is investing more than € 100 million in the construction of this section, the first in what will become a Dutch hydrogen transmission network stretching out over 1,200 kilometres. This hydrogen network will connect the large industrial clusters with the seaports and storage facilities in the Netherlands and will also have connections with Germany and Belgium. The Rotterdam investment was approved in June.
Denmark-Germany hydrogen network connection
Gasunie envisions connecting its future hydrogen network in the north-western part of Germany to the Danish Energinet grid. This is very promising for the economy, according to a new market assessment carried out jointly by the two network operators. Denmark expects to be a major net exporter of green hydrogen, with the hydrogen export forecast to increase from 15 TWh in 2030 to 79 TWh in 2050 based on the national scenarios, or even up to 100 TWh considering the European scenarios. On the other hand, Germany expects to become a net importer of green hydrogen. It is estimated that the demand for low-carbon hydrogen will increase from 93 TWh in 2030 to more than 500 TWh in 2050.
Spain-Netherlands hydrogen corridor
Cepsa and Iberdrola plan to export green ammonia to the Netherlands and supply this as green hydrogen to their European customers via the national hydrogen network of Gasunie subsidiary Hynetwork Services. To establish this green hydrogen supply chain from Spain to the Netherlands, the Spanish energy companies signed letters of intent with Gasunie and ACE Terminal over the past six months.
Match & Connect
The Match & Connect platform offers potential end users, producers and traders (shippers) from all over the world the opportunity to connect the supply of hydrogen with demand. Gasunie intends to use this to get the international hydrogen value and supply chain going. Once the market parties have connected, it is up to them to reach agreements outside Match & Connect: contracts are concluded between the parties without the mediation or involvement of Gasunie.
WarmtelinQ
The work at WarmtelinQ aimed at having the heat transmission pipeline between Vlaardingen and The Hague operational in 2025 and the branch to Leiden transmitting heat in 2027 is on schedule. In May, the province of Zuid-Holland gave final approval in the first part of the permit process for the branch to Leiden.
In May, the Dutch Council of State Administrative Law division ruled on the objections lodged concerning the pipeline section between Vlaardingen and The Hague, declaring all objections inadmissible or unfounded. With this ruling, the integration plan and the permits granted for this project are now irrevocable and construction on land belonging to the City of The Hague can start after the summer. Construction is already underway in the other municipalities along the pipeline route.
Alkmaar SCW gasification plant
Early in February, SCW Systems fed green gas produced through the demo supercritical water (SCW) gasification plant in Alkmaar into GTS’ high-pressure pipeline. This milestone is the result of years of perseverance and a firm belief that this technology would succeed. In the meantime, SCW Systems has continued testing, and several tens of thousands of cubic meters of green gas have been fed in to the grid. A lot of experience has been gained with the plant and, based on this and the data collected, further optimisations can be implemented. All gasifiers are now technically ready. In the coming period, a second gasifier will be commissioned and the Alkmaar SCW gasification plant will switch to other feedstocks. The simultaneous use of multiple gasifiers is hampered, however, by congestion on the electricity grid in Boekelermeer.
Emmen-Ommen green gas pipeline
Gasunie has taken the decision to convert 60km of natural gas pipeline running between Emmen and Ommen for the transmission of locally produced green gas to the Gasunie network starting from early 2024. This conversion should help reduce the increasing congestion in the regional networks. The first green gas is expected to be flowing through the pipeline by August 2025.
Porthos
In March, the Dutch Council of State held a hearing in the nitrogen case on the Porthos carbon capture and storage (CCS) project. The Council of State will rule on whether the ecological assessment sufficiently demonstrates that the nitrogen deposition during the construction of Porthos will have no significant impact on protected nature areas, and whether the necessary permits for the project should therefore become irrevocable. The ruling is expected in August 2023.
The nitrogen case has delayed the construction of Porthos. To avoid further delays, Porthos is continuing to make preparations for the project. The Dutch Senate and House of Representatives approved a guarantee scheme for Porthos, enabling Porthos to order materials in anticipation of obtaining irrevocable permits. If and when the permits become irrevocable, Porthos will make a final investment decision and construction will start. The infrastructure is expected to be operational from 2026, making Porthos the first large-scale CCS project in the Netherlands.
Groningen gas field closure
The Dutch government has announced that it will end the extraction of natural gas from the Groningen field on 1 October 2023 and close the field permanently in 2024. According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, gas will only be extracted from the Groningen field next winter if the Netherlands faces extremely cold temperatures and the gas storage facilities are empty. When making its decision, the Ministry weighed up various recommendations, including advice from GTS.
Partly behind the decision to end production from the Groningen field is the fact that GTS’ new nitrogen plant in Zuidbroek, where imported high-calorific gas will be converted into low-calorific gas, will be commissioned on 1 October 2023. Equipment in Dutch homes is set up for use of this low-calorific Groningen gas. In the first six months of 2023, gas from the Groningen field accounted for only 4% of all natural gas entering the GTS grid.
