Asked by POLITICO if he was concerned about the appearance of leaving a key green policymaking post to advise a company currently dealing primarily in fossil fuels, Samsom said: “Gasunie does not trade or own one molecule of gas. But they are instrumental in providing the infrastructure to accelerate the transition to a renewable energy system.”
Gasunie, which manages the Netherlands’ gas transport pipelines, has recently moved towards investments in hydrogen. This month, the state-owned firm was charged with connecting the country’s future hydrogen network with Belgium and Germany.
The company also set up a new floating liquefied natural gas terminal in 2022 to help replace the Netherlands’ gas supplies that were cut by Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
In a statement on Gasunie’s website, Samsom said the current network could be adapted “in a smart way for hydrogen, green gas, heat and CO2.”
Tim van der Hagen, the vice-chair of the board, said Samsom, a former Greenpeace activist and previous leader of the Dutch Labour Party, was “ideally equipped to make a significant contribution to Gasunie realising its strategic ambitions, especially now that the company plays a key role in the energy transition.”