Glossary

Billion cubic meters.

Also called ‘green gas’, biomethane is biogas upgraded to the quality of natural gas.

Hydrogen made from fossil sources (natural gas) and with CCS.

Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz (German Federal ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action).

Developing new products/services and/or entering new markets.

Carbon Capture and Storage.

Methane; the main component of natural gas.

For companies like Gasunie, community wealth building means stimulating economic development that benefits local communities. This includes initiatives that ensure that business operations generate positive social impacts, such as job creation, skills development, social returns, and volunteering. Gasunie can contribute by partnering with local communities, supporting small businesses, and investing in community development projects. By aligning its business practices with the needs and priorities of the community, Gasunie can help build prosperity and resilience in the regions in which it operates, this way advancing social inclusion and shared prosperity.

Carbon dioxide; released when fuel fully combusts.

CO₂ equivalent; a metric measure that converts the amount of a GHG (like CO₂ or CH₄) into an equivalent amount of CO₂ with the same global warming potential (GWP). CO₂e is calculated by multiplying the mass of the GHG by its GWP. The GWP for CO₂ is fixed at 1 and the GWP for CH₄ is fixed at 28.

Corporate social responsibility means taking responsibility for the impact of the company’s operations on people, the environment and society. Companies that embrace CSR aim to make not only a profit but also a positive contribution to society.

A decarbonisation lever is a strategy or measure that helps to reduce carbon emissions.

Diversity, equity and inclusion. The objective of a DEI policy is to have an organisation where the workforce representatively reflects diversity in society, where everyone’s input contributes to the quality of the organisation, and where everyone can be themselves and is valued for this.

E-methane, short for electro-methane (synthetic methane), is a renewable gas that is produced by capturing CO₂ and combining it with green hydrogen.

Earnings before deduction of interest and taxes.

Earnings before deduction of interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation.

The actual temperature adjusted for wind velocity.

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) is a set of considerations taken into account in the selection and management of holdings in companies. ESG encompasses matters like energy consumption, climate, availability of raw materials, health, safety, and governance.

Front-end engineering design. The planning and design phase of a project, when a relatively large number of changes can still be made to the design without incurring major costs.

The controlled release of natural gas by burning it.

Floating storage regasification unit, a (dockside or offshore) vessel used to transport, store and regasify LNG on board.

FTE (full-time equivalent) is a unit to measure the total workforce of a company or organisation. One FTE corresponds to a single employee working a full working week, which for the Dutch business units of Gasunie is 40 hours per week and 38 hours per week for the German business units. The only exception to this definition are employees who work in shifts (five shifts a week), with or without a reserve team. For these employees, an FTE corresponds to a single employee working 34 2/3 hours (with reserve team) or 33 2/3 hours (without reserve team) per week.

Also called L-gas, this is natural gas of Groningen field quality, i.e. gas with a slightly lower calorific value than the high-calorific gas (H-gas) used internationally.

European Gas Research Group (the initialism comes from Groupe Européen de Recherches Gazières), a trade association of European gas companies, which focuses on research and development.

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol, the prevailing standard for reporting on GHG emissions, breaks down emissions according to their source. The emissions are divided into three categories (scopes), i.e. direct emissions from the company’s operations (Scope 1), indirect emissions associated with the company’s procured energy (Scope 2), and all other emissions arising in the company’s value chain, both upstream and downstream (Scope 3).

Hydrogen produced in a climate-neutral way from renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power.

Gas that contributes to the creation of an insulating layer around the earth, causing it to warm up. The main greenhouse gases are water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and chlorinated hydrocarbons.

Gasunie Transport Services

A Guarantee of Origin, or GO, is a certificate created alongside the production of renewable energy and so proof that the energy consumed is renewable.

Gasunie Deutschland

Gigawatt, a unit of electric power.

This stands for global-warming potential, i.e. the relative impact, molecule for molecule, of a greenhouse gas, taking into account how long it remains active in the atmosphere. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change regularly updates the GWP based on the latest scientific insights.

High-calorific gas, i.e. gas with a slightly higher energy value than gas of Groningen field quality (G-gas/L-gas).

Hydrogen gas, which we generally refer to simply as hydrogen.

International Standardisation Organisation; an organisation that sets international standards.

Also called G-gas, this is natural gas of Groningen field quality, i.e. gas with a slightly lower calorific value than the high-calorific gas (H-gas) used internationally.

Leak detection and repair programme.

The mandate that a company is given (by the government and/or society) to perform its tasks.

Liquefied Natural Gas.

Liquid organic hydrogen carriers.

Methane is the main component of natural gas and is also used as a synonym for natural gas.

Megawatt, a unit of power equal to one million watts.

This ratio provides insight into the extent to which tangible fixed assets are financed by debt.

Gasunie has the ambition to achieve net-zero emissions across all scopes (Scope 1, 2 and 3) by 2045. This means that, on balance, i.e. after decarbonisation through GOs or carbon removals, we no longer contribute to global warming.

NO_x is shorthand for nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), gases that are emitted in all combustion processes and that contribute to air pollution.

Open access infrastructure is infrastructure that is made available to all market parties.

An Open Season is an objective, transparent, non-discriminatory procedure that offers parties the opportunity to reserve capacity in a new infrastructure project.

Pseudo-G-gas is low-calorific gas made from high-calorific gas. This gas is of the same quality as Groningen gas.

Adding nitrogen to high-calorific natural gas to create low-calorific natural gas that is suitable for use by small-scale Dutch consumers.

These are accidents resulting in lost-time injuries, requiring medical treatment or involving one or more fatalities, or due to which the employee must perform alternative work.

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol, the prevailing standard for reporting on GHG emissions, breaks down emissions according to their source. The emissions are divided into three categories (scopes), i.e. direct emissions from the company’s operations (Scope 1), indirect emissions associated with the company’s procured energy (Scope 2), and all other emissions arising in the company’s value chain, both upstream and downstream (Scope 3).

In the Netherlands, this is understood to mean the number of times gas transmission was interrupted because no, or insufficient, gas was able to flow through our infrastructure, irrespective of whether GTS in the Netherlands was able to supply sufficient gas to customers. In Germany, the term is understood to mean the number of times that our infrastructure was unable to supply sufficient gas to customers. The scores attained by Gasunie in the Netherlands and Germany are added together to produce the total score.

Organisations or individuals with a certain interest (‘stake’) in the company.

A measure of the level of safety in the company, the TRFI is the total number of ‘reportable accidents’ (i.e. those resulting in lost-time injuries, requiring medical treatment or involving one or more fatalities, or due to which the employee must perform alternative work) per 1 million hours worked, assuming 1,680 working hours per FTE (employees and non-employees working for Gasunie) per year. The number of hours for employees of contractors and subcontractors is calculated by dividing the CAPEX and OPEX of contractors by an average hourly rate.

In the Netherlands, this is understood to mean: the number of times gas transmission was interrupted because no, or insufficient, gas was able to flow through our infrastructure, irrespective of whether GTS in the Netherlands was able to supply sufficient gas to customers. In Germany, it is understood to mean the number of times that our infrastructure was unable to supply sufficient gas to customers. The scores attained by Gasunie in the Netherlands and Germany are added together to produce the total target score.

A transmission system operator is an entity entrusted with the transmission of energy in the form of natural gas or electrical power on a national or regional level, using fixed infrastructure. ‘Transmission’ is the term commonly used in reference to the long-distance transport of gas or electricity, especially within a country or region; when this energy crosses borders the term ‘transport’ is used.

Weighted Average Cost of Capital.

These are accidents occurring in the course of work that result in one or more Gasunie employees and/or other persons being injured. If the injured person does not resume work within one working day (24 hours) and they are unable to do restricted (alternative) work, we call this a ‘lost-time injury’.