Transition policy and sustainability
GasTerra's core activities are purchasing and selling natural gas, with the emphasis on marketing the Dutch natural gas reserves in such a way that value is added to this mineral resource.19/11/2008 | By Ben Warner
GasTerra considers it highly important to have access to a stable and well-filled portfolio for as long as possible, and, following naturally from this, using it in practical applications. The value of natural gas demands that it be used efficiently.
As a direct consequence, people are entitled to expect GasTerra to promote the efficient and economical use of natural gas. And it does. Already back in the 1970s and 1980s, the company ran public information campaigns to draw attention to the value of the efficient use of gas. In the same period, the high-efficiency boiler was developed; this has contributed demonstrably to the long-term reduction in natural gas consumption at domestic level.
In the 1990s the Milieu Plan Industrie (‘MPI’ – Environmental Plan for Industry) was set up and introduced. This provided advice to industrial customers on the more efficient use of energy and, in particular, natural gas. At hundreds of companies and even in whole industries, such as the glass and paper industries, projects were implemented which resulted in savings of between 10 and 50 per cent.
This earlier policy has a direct continuation in GasTerra’s current transition policy. The reasons are even more firmly based than before, if that were possible. Concerns about climate change have joined with factors already present such as the overburdening of the environment, the costs of energy and the careful use of finite reserves. A very specific reason nowadays is that awareness of the finite nature of fossil fuel reserves grew at the start of this century. The fossil reserves are still considerable and additional quantities from far-reaching exploration activities (technologically and/or geographically) are foreseeable. Nevertheless, between 2050 and 2100, fossil fuels will be available in decreasing quantities, and it may be that severe, situation∞linked scarcity problems will arise before that. Since it seems, based on current knowledge and forecasts, that demand for energy will double in the period to 2050 and concerns about climate change are shared by many, demands for clean energy processes with fewer harmful emissions and sustainable sources are rapidly increasing.
Facilitating energy transition
With these circumstances and trends as the starting point, GasTerra is applying itself to a policy that facilitates energy transition.
The considerations are as follows. The transition to an age with mainly sustainable energy requires nothing more and nothing less than a fundamental and essential switch in behaviour and technology, and will have radical effects on existing political and economical relationships and structures.
It requires effort and willingness to cooperate from everyone and everything and therefore represents both a collective and an individual process. On the individual side, every business will need to set to work to the best of its ability. For GasTerra, that ability and the expertise associated with it lie in the area of natural gas.
If the transition sequence is seen as a bridge which is being built from one bank – the fossil fuel world – to the other bank – the sustainable world – then natural gas will not reach the other side, but it will help to bring that transition about.
Society is still at the start of that process and, in that phase, natural gas can still ensure, for several decades of this century, that that bridge is built in as clean, as efficient and as sustainable a way as possible from a stable, conventional energy shore. That is what we mean by ‘facilitating’: providing the building of the bridge and the transition with as stable a beginning as possible.
The sustainability policy is part of the corporate policy and as such, part of the annual business plan. The implementing activities come under the SE (Strategy and Planning/Energy transition) department. As GasTerra has no production processes to which sustainability applies, the company is cooperating intensively on an organisational basis with third parties, such as consultants, laboratories and energy companies.
Europe’s security supplier
GasTerra is an international company trading in natural gas. It operates on the European energy market and has a significant share of the Dutch gas market. It also provides gas-related services. The company has a strong purchasing position and has over 40 years’ experience in purchasing and selling natural gas, both in The Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe. Last year’s turnover was approximately €18bn.
GasTerra fulfils a public role regarding the implementation of the Dutch government’s ‘small fields policy’. The aim of this policy is to encourage the production of Dutch natural gas from the smaller gas fields. This policy prolongates the life of the main Groningen-gasfield.
The company is customer-focused, launches new pricing concepts and strives to maintain long-term relationships with market players. GasTerra puts in place sales contracts which express the market value of the natural gas and related services.
GasTerra is committed to sustainable development as a guiding principle for its strategy and actions. The economic and social value of natural gas as a source of energy gives the company an important role in utilising the domestic gas reserves and in energy supply in the Netherlands and the EU. GasTerra promotes the safe and efficient consumption of natural gas and takes active steps to develop further applications.
The company recognises the great importance of energy transition to sustainable energy supplies and initiates projects in that context, ranging from a new generation of boilers that also produce electricity to green gas and cooling with natural gas. GasTerra considers natural gas to be a favourable partner for the an alliance during transition with any renewable source.
Long-term ambition
GasTerra’s strategy is to maximise the value of the Dutch natural gas it supplies. It does this by consolidating and strengthening its position on the European market, chiefly in market segments where demand for natural gas is linked to demand for ancillary services. The company uses the Dutch capacity infrastructure and trading places that are developing in the market. Gas from non-Dutch sources is purchased selectively when it ties in with the overall supply portfolio.
GasTerra wants to help maintain and strengthen the market position of natural gas in relation to other fossil fuels and renewable sources. In that context, the company feels it is important to be a reliable gas supplier to its customers for decades to come.
