Netherlands Plans Up to 1 Billion Euros in Support for 2027 Gas Reserves
AMSTERDAM — The Dutch government announced on October 16 its arrangements for securing natural gas supply for the winter of 2027-28, setting the national gas reserve target for 2027 at 103 terawatt-hours (TWh) — 72 percent of the technical capacity of the country's gas storage facilities, consistent with the EU-mandated storage requirement — and planning subsidies of up to about 1 billion euros to state-owned energy company EBN to top up inventories in 2027 if commercial storage falls short. EBN is authorised to undertake storage tasks of up to 80 TWh.
EBN's supplementary storage would use three underground facilities: Bergermeer, Norg and Grijpskerk. The government's 2026 spring budget already established the funding, with a subsidy ceiling of 1.026 billion euros and a loan ceiling of up to 22 billion euros. The government plans to decide EBN's actual injection volumes and corresponding funding based on the progress of commercial storage.
Dutch gas transmission system operator Gasunie Transport Services (GTS) had previously proposed a recommended seasonal storage level of 93 TWh for the winter of 2027, lower than the 115 TWh recommended for the 2026-27 storage year. (GSM, based on the Dutch government announcement)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 荷兰艾瑟尔湖风电场。Wind farm on the IJsselmeer, Netherlands. Photo by Dominicus Johannes Bergsma, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
