Minister emphasises importance of hydrogen network; decision on affordable transport tariffs needed in the short term

Hydrogen still crucial for decarbonisation of industry

The National Energy System Plan was published on budget day. In the plan, the government sets out its vision for the Dutch energy system towards 2050. While projected hydrogen volumes have been revised downwards, hydrogen and the transmission network are still crucial for the decarbonisation of industry. For Hynetwork, the outcome of the National Energy System Plan and the letter to parliament of 23 September confirm that we have to keep making progress on the national hydrogen network to interconnect producers, users, storage facilities and import and export flows in good time.

Decision on amortisation needed in the short term

Over the past year, a financing model has been developed that will help keep transport tariffs affordable and stable for the market and that will enable Gasunie subsidiary Hynetwork to make its investment decisions in early 2027 for the development of the hydrogen network. The government commissioned the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) to assess the financial viability of this approach. Their assessment shows that the temporary deficits can, in virtually all cases, be recovered well within 30 years. Both Hynetwork and the market need the minister to make a decision about this amortisation model in the short term.

Amortisation: spreading the costs over a longer period

Construction of the national hydrogen network requires significant investment, while the network will have relatively few users connected to it over the initial years. The amortisation model prevents these initial users from facing prohibitively high transport tariffs by spreading the costs over a longer period. The temporary difference between costs and revenue will be covered by an amortisation account and paid back later as the market grows and more parties start using the network.