2nd HAEE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE - Hans Coenen

Many thanks for the brief. To be positive, my name is Hans Coenen, Vice President Corporate Business Development at Gasunie, and the title of my presentation is 'Mind the Gap'. For some, this should be a familiar sentence referring to the metro station warning. Now, the devil is in the details of the presentation. Gasunie is one of the biggest infrastructure companies in Europe, with a network that includes an LNG terminal and connections to Russia. We transport 125 billion cubic meters of natural gas, which is about 25% of total European consumption. In the Netherlands alone, we transit 85 billion cubic meters. This demonstrates the importance of being connected to neighbouring countries and upstream supplies, and developing a liquid market. This helps your own country and Europe. The Netherlands is addicted to natural gas: 84% of its energy production comes from natural gas, while renewables are only a few percent. The challenge is to reach the target of 80% CO2 reduction, which requires transforming the energy system with a combination of natural gas, renewables, green gas, hydrogen, and electrification. Natural gas will play an important role, especially for flexibility and backup. European natural gas production is declining rapidly, creating an increasing import gap. This will need to be filled by imports from Russia, LNG, and other sources. It is important to develop liquid markets and infrastructure, beneficial for Greece and surrounding countries as well as the rest of Europe. We look forward to further discussion on natural gas infrastructure in relation to the renewable energy system. Many thanks for your attention.