{"id":6230,"date":"2020-04-21T11:26:08","date_gmt":"2020-04-21T09:26:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebn.nl\/about-ebn\/geschiedenis\/"},"modified":"2025-07-25T10:42:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T08:42:11","slug":"history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.ebn.nl\/en\/about-ebn\/history\/","title":{"rendered":"History"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>History<\/h1>\n<p>Energie Beheer Nederland (EBN) has played a central role in energy production in the Netherlands for many years. It is not only EBN\u2019s name that has changed since its foundation, but also its public functions and its mission. Discover our company\u2019s history.<\/p>\n\n    <div id=\"content-navigation\" class=\"content-page-blocks-navigation\">\n\n        <h4>On this page<\/h4>\n\n        <ul class=\"content-page-blocks-navigation_links p-0 m-0\">\n\n            \n                <li><a href=\"#1902-dutch-state-mines-is-founded\">1902: Dutch State Mines is founded<\/a><\/li>\n\n            \n                <li><a href=\"#1959-groningen-gas-field-is-discovered\">1959: Groningen gas field is discovered<\/a><\/li>\n\n            \n                <li><a href=\"#1963-commercialising-the-subsurface\">1963: Commercialising the subsurface<\/a><\/li>\n\n            \n                <li><a href=\"#1973-dsm-aardgas-b-v-is-founded\">1973: DSM Aardgas B.V. is founded<\/a><\/li>\n\n            \n                <li><a href=\"#2006-ebn-sets-out-on-its-own\">2006: EBN sets out on its own<\/a><\/li>\n\n            \n                <li><a href=\"#2008-public-functions-defined-in-the-mining-act\">2008: Public functions defined in the Mining Act<\/a><\/li>\n\n            \n                <li><a href=\"#2016-a-new-strategy\">2016: A new strategy<\/a><\/li>\n\n            \n                <li><a href=\"#2017-reuse-and-geothermal-energy\">2017: Reuse and geothermal energy<\/a><\/li>\n\n            \n                <li><a href=\"#2019-a-new-mission\">2019: A new mission<\/a><\/li>\n\n            \n                <li><a href=\"#2020-north-sea-agreement-partner\">2020: North Sea Agreement partner<\/a><\/li>\n\n            \n                <li><a href=\"#2022-building-a-sustainable-energy-system-together-faster\">2022: Building a sustainable energy system together, faster<\/a><\/li>\n\n            \n        <\/ul>\n\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n    <div class=\"content-page-content\">\n\n        \n            <div id=\"1902-dutch-state-mines-is-founded\">\n                <h2>1902: Dutch State Mines is founded<\/h2>\n                <p>EBN\u2019s history starts in 1902 with Staatsmijnen in Limburg (later rebranded to DSM, an acronym of the English name \u2018Dutch State Mines\u2019), 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.<\/p>\n            <\/div>\n        \n            <div id=\"1959-groningen-gas-field-is-discovered\">\n                <h2>1959: Groningen gas field is discovered<\/h2>\n                <p>In 1959, a large natural gas field was discovered underground in the province of Groningen. The Dutch State had to ensure that the natural gas extraction was profitable. Dutch society had to benefit as much as possible from this too. So, the Dutch government deemed that it needed to play a prominent role in the extraction and sale of natural gas.<\/p>\n            <\/div>\n        \n            <div id=\"1963-commercialising-the-subsurface\">\n                <h2>1963: Commercialising the subsurface<\/h2>\n                <p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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).<\/p>\n            <\/div>\n        \n            <div id=\"1973-dsm-aardgas-b-v-is-founded\">\n                <h2>1973: DSM Aardgas B.V. is founded<\/h2>\n                <p>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.<\/p>\n            <\/div>\n        \n            <div id=\"2006-ebn-sets-out-on-its-own\">\n                <h2>2006: EBN sets out on its own<\/h2>\n                <p>On 1 January 2006, DSM\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n            <\/div>\n        \n            <div id=\"2008-public-functions-defined-in-the-mining-act\">\n                <h2>2008: Public functions defined in the Mining Act<\/h2>\n                <p>On 1 January 2008, the office in Utrecht became the head office and the office in Heerlen was closed.\u00a0In 2008, EBN\u2019s specific public functions were set out in the Mining Act, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>holding a stake in the exploration and production of oil and gas;<\/li>\n<li>holding a stake in production-related activities, including the sales, transmission and storage of natural gas and oil;<\/li>\n<li>performing functions relating to the partnership between the Dutch State, Shell and ExxonMobil (the Gasgebouw); and<\/li>\n<li>performing other functions in the general interest of energy policy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In 2011, EBN\u2019s legal name was changed to EBN B.V.<\/p>\n            <\/div>\n        \n            <div id=\"2016-a-new-strategy\">\n                <h2>2016: A new strategy<\/h2>\n                <p>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).<\/p>\n            <\/div>\n        \n            <div id=\"2017-reuse-and-geothermal-energy\">\n                <h2>2017: Reuse and geothermal energy<\/h2>\n                <p>The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy assigned EBN to map out the Dutch subsurface to determine the potential for geothermal energy.\u00a0 We also stood at the foundation of the Geothermal Heat Master Plan, together with various partners.\u00a0And together with NOGEPA (ElementNL), we initiated the Nexstep platform aimed at reusing and dismantling the infrastructure.<\/p>\n            <\/div>\n        \n            <div id=\"2019-a-new-mission\">\n                <h2>2019: A new mission<\/h2>\n                <p>In 2019, EBN\u2019s 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.\u00a0 In addition, we launched the\u00a0SCAN programme together with TNO\u00a0and we took the first steps towards large-scale carbon storage projects.<\/p>\n            <\/div>\n        \n            <div id=\"2020-north-sea-agreement-partner\">\n                <h2>2020: North Sea Agreement partner<\/h2>\n                <p>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.\u00a0EBN was also given the go-ahead to take out a stake in the Porthos CCS project.<\/p>\n            <\/div>\n        \n            <div id=\"2022-building-a-sustainable-energy-system-together-faster\">\n                <h2>2022: Building a sustainable energy system together, faster<\/h2>\n                <p>There is growing urgency for the energy transition and EBN adjusted its strategy accordingly. Based on our mission \u2018Towards a sustainable energy system together, faster\u2019, 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.<\/p>\n            <\/div>\n        \n    <\/div>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>History Energie Beheer Nederland (EBN) has played a central role in energy production in the Netherlands for many years. It is not only EBN\u2019s name that has changed since its foundation, but also its public functions and its mission. Discover our company\u2019s history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9124,"parent":6217,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-category-content.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-6230","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.3 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>History - EBN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It not only EBN\u2019s name that has changed since its foundation, but also its public functions and its mission. 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