From gas infrastructure to energy infrastructure in a changing market

• Volume of gas transported through Gasunie networks fell slightly; reliability of gas transport virtually 100%
   
• Record quantity of 29.0 billion m³ (2018: 28.9 billion m³) of Groningen-quality gas made by mixing with nitrogen; nitrogen plants at 100% capacity
• Gasunie’s nitrogen measures accelerate phase-out of gas extraction in Groningen
• Record quantity of LNG imported through Gate terminal on the Maasvlakte
   
• Gas infrastructure helps accelerate energy transition
• Gasunie and TenneT study: close coordination of gas and electricity infrastructure in north-western Europe essential
• HyStock, the first 1MW green hydrogen plant, in operation
• WarmteLinQ brings sustainable heat for The Hague region and greenhouse horticulture a step closer
   
• Profit in 2019 € 412 million (2018: € 325 million)
• €288 million dividend for shareholder, the Dutch State

In 2019, 1,106 TWh (113.2 billion m³) of natural gas was transported through the Gasunie network. This was a slight decrease (2.6%) compared to 2018 (1,136 TWh or 116.3 billion m³). Reliability was virtually 100%, with just one brief disruption. Because there were fewer cold days in 2019, less gas was transported through the Dutch network than during the previous year. 

The phase-out of gas extraction in the Groningen gas field is being accelerated. Gasunie is making a maximum contribution towards measures to realise this phase-out as quickly as possible. The construction of the new nitrogen plant has started, and the expansion of the mixing station at Wieringermeer is complete. This will allow extra nitrogen to be mixed. It is expected that gas extraction can be reduced to zero in 2022 as a result.

To compensate for the declining gas extraction in Groningen, a record quantity of 29.0 billion m³of high-calorific gas was converted to Groningen-quality gas in 2019 (2018: 28.9 billion m³). 100% of the available nitrogen capacity was deployed. Mixing with nitrogen can make the natural gas coming from other sources a suitable replacement for Groningen gas in domestic households and businesses.

More and more gas comes from abroad, either from countries such as Norway or Russia, or as liquefied natural gas through the Gate terminal on the Maasvlakte. The amount of LNG arriving there almost tripled during the past year, to 7.3 billion m³. Now that north-western Europe has changed from being a producer to an importer of natural gas, the importance of good infrastructure for the transport and storage of natural gas for the security of supply has increased. The proposed construction of an LNG terminal in Germany will increase our ability to use gas from many sources in north-western Europe.

Gasunie reported solid results in 2019. Revenues increased slightly from € 1,251 million to € 1,278 million, while the reported net profit increased by € 87 million compared to last year’s result, to € 412 million. Operating costs were € 138 million lower than in 2018, which consisted of € 98 million in one-off costs, and a structural cost reduction of € 40 million. Gasunie proposes paying out a dividend of € 288 million (i.e. 70% of the net result) to its shareholder, the Dutch State, for 2019.

Sustainable gases and heat will play an important role in the future energy mix. By making use of existing gas infrastructure and ensuring this can work together smartly with infrastructure for electricity and heat, we can ensure that the total energy system remains reliable and affordable. We want to contribute to the energy transition in four important areas (hydrogen, green gas, heat and CCUS).

Hydrogen
We want to accelerate the development of the hydrogen market. Hydrogen can be transported efficiently across our existing gas infrastructure and stored in large quantities. As an independent network operator and connecting party, Gasunie can connect hydrogen from various providers and transport it to the large industrial clusters in the Netherlands. This network’s capacity can increase to 10-15GW by 2030. Parts of the national grid can be made suitable for the future transport of hydrogen relatively easily. We are developing a number of projects with partners in the Eemshaven, North Sea Canal, Rotterdam, Zeeland and Limburg industrial clusters.

On 26 June, King Willem-Alexander opened our HyStock green hydrogen plant in Zuidwending in the province of Groningen, where 1 megawatt of sustainable electricity will be converted into green hydrogen. Gasunie is also currently working on concrete plans to scale up the electrolysis capacity with a number of partners: with Nouryon on large-scale conversion (20MW) of sustainable electricity into green hydrogen at the Delfzijl Chemical Park in the northern Netherlands, with parties including TenneT on the large-scale generation of wind energy in the North Sea, and with TenneT and Thyssengas on a feasibility study in Germany.

Heat
Heat grids are seen as an essential component in the sustainable energy mix of 2050. At the request of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, Gasunie plans to construct the WarmteLinQ project. WarmteLinQ, formerly known as the Leiding door het Midden (Pipeline through the Centre), is an underground main transport pipeline that will allow residual heat from the port of Rotterdam to be used to replace natural gas in domestic homes, businesses and greenhouses in the Rotterdam/The Hague region. Gasunie expects to be able to make an investment decision during the course of 2020. This will allow construction to start in 2021, so that the pipeline can become operational in 2023.

Green gas
The potential of green gas in the energy mix is substantial. The national goal is to produce and supply 2 billion m³ by 2030, as laid down in the Climate Agreement.
To permit the large-scale production of sustainable green gas, Gasunie brought the first ‘green gas booster’ into service in 2019. This allows green gas from the regional network to be fed into the GTS national grid.

Together with Gasunie, SCW is building a demo installation in Alkmaar where wet biomass such as manure and sewage sludge can be gasified into green gas and hydrogen. In the fourth quarter of 2019, the entire supply chain from biomass feed-in up to and including gas generation was activated for the first time. This allowed a small quality of gas to be fed into the GTS network. This was a first for the high-pressure generation of bio syngas at this scale.

CCUS
The Climate Agreement states that the storage of CO₂ in empty gas fields deep under the North Sea is one of the most important measures to reduce industrial CO₂ emissions. Gasunie’s knowledge of and expertise with gas transport through pipelines, compression and storage allows us to contribute to two CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage) projects, in Rotterdam (Porthos) and the North Sea Canal area (Athos). In CCUS, CO₂ is captured and subsequently used for other applications, or transported to an underground storage site.

Our annual report is available online at: www.gasuniereport2019.nl.