Development of revenue and result

In 2025, our consolidated net revenue (excluding other revenue) was up 23.8% compared to 2024, largely on the back of higher permitted revenues at our regulated business units.

If our regulated revenue in any year exceeds the permitted revenues determined by the regulatory authority, we must offset the surplus revenue in subsequent years by charging lower tariffs (and vice versa), as determined by the regulatory system both in the Netherlands and in Germany. Current reporting standards do not allow us to recognise future settlements as a liability or receivable in the balance sheet and, consequently, neither in our revenue nor our result for the year in question. We may only recognise settlements of regulated revenue in the year in which the settlement actually takes place. As a result, we had lower permitted revenues in 2024, causing net revenue to be lower as well. This was largely a settlement of the additional revenue generated in 2022, when geopolitical circumstances caused revenue to soar.

For more detailed information on the development of the revenue and result, see note 2 ‘Financial information by operating segment’ and note 29 ‘Net revenue’. We explain the difference between our IFRS results and our underlying results in more detail under ‘Key financial figures’ in our directors’ report.

Total operating expenses were up € 313.3 million on last year, mostly due to workforce growth, with workers being hired mainly for our energy transition activities (see note 31 ‘Personnel expenses’). Network maintenance costs have also gone up, as have costs relating to the energy transition. Additionally, a € 140.7 million impairment on Gasunie Deutschland’s natural gas transmission network pushed up operating expenses. Note ‎3 ‘Impairment tests’ provides a detailed explanation of this, while also reviewing the measurement of several other key business units that did not lead to amendment of the measurement of fixed assets.

The result of the financial year includes a tax profit of € 51.6 million that is largely the result of the gradual lowering of the future corporate income tax rate in Germany, which led to a downward adjustment of the measurement of our deferred tax liabilities. On top of that, investments in the energy transition brought additional tax benefits and permitted us to carry tax losses forward. For further details, we refer to note 10 ‘Deferred tax assets’, note 20 ‘Deferred tax liabilities’ and note 36 ‘Income taxes’.

Consequences of the climate and energy transition

Gasunie plays an important role in the energy market in north-western Europe. We manage, maintain and develop infrastructure for large-scale transmission, transport, storage and conversion of energy. Where our infrastructure used to be intended solely for the transmission and storage of natural gas, the energy transition is increasingly shifting our focus to carbon capture and storage (CCS), hydrogen transmission and storage, and the construction and operation of a heat transport network. These projects are crucial for an integrated and future-proof energy system.

The energy transition and current geopolitical situation also call for additional focus on the reliability of our infrastructure. We are increasing our infrastructure’s resilience and security of supply through maintenance and replacement programmes and by investing in flexibility, such as in boosting our LNG capacity.

The energy transition also affects the future utilisation of our natural gas infrastructure. We aim to achieve net zero across all our own emissions by 2045. This means that our operations, if necessary after using sustainability certificates, will no longer result in any net emissions.

In our Vision 2040, we distinguish four value chains that determine the future use and development of our infrastructure: 

• Methane: By 2040, we aim that our network, terminals and storage facilities will accommodate methane, biomethane, LNG, bio-LNG and e-methane. Despite declining use, natural gas continues to be needed. CCS will play a key role within this value chain.
• Hydrogen: By 2040, we expect to have a large hydrogen network up and running in the Netherlands and Germany, along with storage options in salt caverns and import terminals in the ports of Rotterdam and Eemshaven. 
• CO₂: By 2040, we and our partners expect to provide CO₂ transport and storage infrastructure, including import and export terminals.
• Heat: By 2040, we envisage operating two to three large-scale heat networks to help make homes and businesses more sustainable.

Gasunie believes in a sustainable future with a balanced energy mix and a lasting role for diversified gases. Our assets are expected to play an important role in this. Given the uncertainties concerning future developments, we have made certain assumptions and used estimates in our financial statements, including assumptions about the useful life of our network infrastructure and the associated depreciation methods and periods. These lifespans and periods may be shorter or longer than we currently estimate, depending on, among other things, which assets we can repurpose for alternative use and when the transmission of natural gas will be phased out. We explain these matters further in note 4 ‘Property, plant and equipment’. These developments may also affect the required size of the provision for abandonment costs. Depending on which assets we can reuse, we may need to remove more or fewer assets than what we currently foresee. We explain this matter further in note ‎22 ‘Other provisions’.

In our directors’ report, we explain our activities in the area of the energy transition in more detail.

Dividend payment 

Following consultations with our sole shareholder, the Dutch State, it has been agreed that no dividend will have to be paid for the 2024-2026 financial years.