Large-scale expansion of energy infrastructure is essential for the decarbonisation of Dutch industry. Part of this infrastructure is currently not progressing at sufficient pace. This concerns investments that fall outside the existing tariff regulation for grid operators and for which no appropriate financing framework is in place.
On behalf of the National Programme for Industrial Decarbonisation (NPVI), Common Futures examined the potential role and value of an Energy Infrastructure Fund in supporting and/or financing energy infrastructure that is critical to industrial decarbonisation. We explored what additional public financing is required to enable these investments, and how such financing could be structured.
Five types of critical infrastructure
The exploration focused on five types of infrastructure for which additional public financing solutions are needed:
- Last-mile connections to the electricity grid
- CO₂ transport infrastructure
- Hydrogen storage
- Regional branches of the hydrogen network
- Anticipatory investments in electricity grids and utilities
For each type, we assessed the societal value, the risks associated with delayed or absent investment, and the suitability of different financial instruments — ranging from subsidies and concessional loans to government guarantees.
Long-term certainty requires a fund
Given the long-term nature of these investments, we recommend working with a budgetary fund. Such a fund provides multi-year certainty and allows resources to be carried forward across fiscal years; in doing so, it improves the bankability of essential infrastructure.
The report concludes that, in the short term, expanding the existing energy infrastructure allocation within the Climate Fund is a promising route. In the medium term, a National Investment Bank could play an important role in providing loans, potentially backed by government guarantees.
Collaboration with the Vliegwiel initiative
The study was carried out in close collaboration with the Vliegwiel initiative within NPVI, where grid operators, industry clusters and public authorities work together to accelerate industrial decarbonisation. This intensive collaboration resulted in a broadly supported analysis and policy options that are directly applicable in practice.
