History

EBN’s history starts in 1902 with Staatsmijnen in Limburg (later rebranded to DSM, an acronym of the English name ‘Dutch State Mines’), which was founded by the Dutch State to exploit the underground coal reserves in Limburg. Later the production of ammonia and fertiliser began, in addition to the mining of coal.

In 1963, the Dutch State designated Staatsmijnen to hold a stake in the extraction and sale of natural gas. In the same year, a Cooperation Agreement was signed by Staatsmijnen, NAM, Shell and Esso, the legal predecessor of ExxonMobil. The purpose of this agreement was to coordinate the extraction, transmission and sale of Groningen gas and the transmission and sale of natural gas extracted elsewhere in the Netherlands.

On conclusion of the agreement, Maatschap Groningen (Groningen Partnership) was formed to manage the production of natural gas from Groningen. Nederlandse Staatsmijnen (currently EBN) had a 40% stake in this partnership and NAM had a 60% stake. The Dutch State also received a 10% royalty on gross profit.

NAM (a joint venture of Shell and Esso) was responsible for the actual gas extraction operations. The public-private partnership N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie was founded to sell and distribute the natural gas. Staatsmijnen had a 40% interest in the company, Shell and Esso each had a 25% stake, and the Dutch State held the remaining 10% share. The partnership was split in 2005 to form Gasunie and GasTerra. Gasunie was required by law to purchase all natural gas offered to it (including non-Groningen gas).

In 1973, all government holdings in Dutch gas were transferred to the separate legal entity DSM Aardgas B.V. When DSM was floated in 1989, the State acquired all shares of DSM Aardgas B.V. At the same time, the name DSM Aardgas B.V. was changed to Energie Beheer Nederland B.V. (EBN). The various functions and the working relationship with DSM remained unchanged.

On 1 January 2006, DSM’s governance of EBN also came to an end; EBN has since been an independent company where the Executive Team reports to an independent Supervisory Board. In mid-2006, EBN opened an office in Utrecht.

On 1 January 2008, the office in Utrecht became the head office and the office in Heerlen was closed. In 2008, EBN’s specific public functions were set out in the Mining Act, including:

• holding a stake in the exploration and production of oil and gas;
• holding a stake in production-related activities, including the sales, transmission and storage of natural gas and oil;
• performing functions relating to the partnership between the Dutch State, Shell and ExxonMobil (the Gasgebouw); and
• performing other functions in the general interest of energy policy.

In 2011, EBN’s legal name was changed to EBN B.V.

In 2016, EBN formulated three strategic priorities: in addition to natural gas and oil (Our Dutch Gas), the focus was now placed on the dismantling and reuse of infrastructure (Return to Nature) and the development of new forms of energy (New Energy).

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy assigned EBN to map out the Dutch subsurface to determine the potential for geothermal energy.  We also stood at the foundation of the Geothermal Heat Master Plan, together with various partners. And together with NOGEPA (ElementNL), we initiated the Nexstep platform aimed at reusing and dismantling the infrastructure.

In 2019, EBN’s mission was changed to: As the combined strength in the energy transition, EBN is deploying the value of the subsurface for a sustainable future above ground. This year, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy also granted EBN a mandate to hold a stake in all geothermal energy projects.  In addition, we launched the SCAN programme together with TNO and we took the first steps towards large-scale carbon storage projects.

Together with the Dutch State and stakeholders, EBN concluded the North Sea Agreement on choices and policy aimed at the balance in activities in the North Sea, concerning the energy transition, nature recovery and the future of fishing. EBN was also given the go-ahead to take out a stake in the Porthos CCS project.

There is growing urgency for the energy transition and EBN adjusted its strategy accordingly. Based on our mission ‘Towards a sustainable energy system together, faster’, we are working on a sustainable gas system, a sustainable heat transition and responsible carbon storage. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate appointed EBN to fill the gas storage facility at Bergermeer.

As of 1 July 2023, EBN was given an additional role in the development of geothermal energy in the Netherlands. Following an amendment to the Mining Act, initiators of new geothermal energy projects are required to invite EBN to participate. As a public partner, EBN takes an interest of 20% to 40% and shares in the risks and investments, without acting as the operating party. This mandate aims to accelerate the development of geothermal energy projects, improve knowledge sharing within the sector and safeguard the public interest.

In 2026, EBN subsidiary NDW B.V. was officially designated by the Minister of Climate and Green Growth as the National Heat Investor (Nationale Deelneming Warmte, NDW) under the Collective Heat Act. NDW invests on behalf of the Dutch State in public heat companies and helps accelerate the rollout of new district heating networks.

With an investment mandate of €224 million for its first five years, NDW supports municipalities, provinces and network operators in the development of regional heat companies. During the year, the first cooperation agreements were concluded for public heat companies in, among others, Amsterdam, North Brabant and the Leiden region. NDW was also tasked with initiating acquisition discussions with Eneco, Ennatuurlijk and Vattenfall regarding their heat-related activities, with the aim of bringing these activities into public ownership.

With the establishment of NDW, EBN entered a new sector in which public collaboration, investment capacity and knowledge development are central to enabling sustainable heat for millions of people in the Netherlands.