Encuesta a dirigentes

Health, safety, environment and sustainability

We are fully aware of the environment in which we operate. We conduct our business in a respon- sible way and operate a carefully considered policy on health, safety and environment (HSE). Our HSE goals are laid down in the Gasunie commitment to safety, health and the environment, which we drew up in 2005 and distributed to all our staff. This is included in the Section on health, safe- ty and environment at the end of this report.

The Gasunie commitment to health, safety and environment states that our priority is to achieve a safe and healthy working environment for our staff and for external contract staff who are wor- king for us, and when guaranteeing external safety in the vicinity of our pipelines and installations. We also devote attention to the environment and sustainability in our business operations. We want to continue to be among the leading international gas infrastructure companies in terms of safety performance. The results of the European benchmark study in which we participated in 2007 suggest that we will succeed in doing so.

Our health, safety and environment policy focuses on four priority areas:

X Safety of employees

X Safety of contract staff

X Safety of pipelines

X Sustainability

To ensure that concern for HSE is included in relevant business processes, our health, safety and environmental protection system is certified. Gasunie's environmental care system, which covers external safety, is ISO 14001-certified.

HSE results are reported on a monthly and quarterly basis, to enable the HSE performances to be periodically assessed. Critical performance indicators are: injuries involving absence from work, rates and frequency of sickness absence, pipeline incidents (external safety) and environmental irregularities. The HSE audits are included in the operational audits. Considerable attention was given to improving these audits during 2007.

The Section on Health, Safety and Environment at the end of this report contains more detailed quantifiable information about the performance of Gasunie in 2007, including as regards our emis- sions. Gasunie registers its emissions using the best available techniques and identifies realistic measures to limit these emissions as far as possible.

Centralised safety team

Two years ago, Gasunie appointed a centralised safety team (CST) consisting of staff with a high level of operational experience. Their job is to initiate and carry through operational improve- ments relating to health, safety and environment, and to accelerate the conversion of HSE policy to specific improvements. These improvements are designed to prevent situations where incidents which could have a detrimental effect on people and/or the environment could occur. In 2007, the CST worked on the introduction of a new work permit involving further safety improvements,

Spearhead: safety of staff

Our safety policy is defined by a proactive approach to accident prevention, both among our own employees and among contract staff, who are legally required to abide by the Health and Safety Act (Arbowet) and the company's own supplementary requirements.

All reports of accidents, incidents, environmental irregularities and hazardous situations must include an indication of the measures needed to prevent similar events from occurring in the future. In addition to replacing and modifying aspects of the gas transport system, this primarily involves informing and instructing staff, discussing rules and procedures with external parties and super- vising their compliance, adapting working methods, rules and procedures and the use of personal protective clothing and equipment.

Considerable attention was again given to encouraging safety among staff in the year under review, partly through more structured internal communication about safety and the introduction of competence management. In 2007, internal and external information material was compiled on risk communication. The Gasunie employees involved attended relevant training courses. In 2007 Gasunie again organised special campaigns to boost safety awareness among staff. Managers were given the opportunity to nominate employees who had achieved an exceptional safety performance. These candidates were assessed against specific criteria and rewarded accordingly. There were two injuries to company employees involving absence from work in 2007, due to a car accident. The norm was zero. There were four injuries involving absence from work among external contractors, temporary staff and internees. The accident frequency index total for third parties (number of injuries involving absence per million hours worked) thus came to 1.4. Gasunie there- fore fell within the norm of a maximum of 1.5 injuries for external staff.

Road safety

Several Gasunie employees were involved in traffic accidents during business trips and journeys to and from work. This underlines the need for attention to be given to road safety. Two spearheads for improving road safety were formulated. The first was to reduce the annual number of business kilometres driven by staff. The second was to offer employees driving skills training.

It was decided that all staff would be given the opportunity to undergo a driving skills course every three years. These courses began in 2007. For company employees who cover distances of more than 1,000 kilometres a year, they were mandatory. In addition to improving the individual's driving style, the courses also gave updates on the latest traffic regulations and tips on saving fuel. Staff were also given information about the ban on using mobile phones while driving, how to avoid skidding during wet weather, the correct use of seatbelts and headrests and correct tyre pressure.

Health

The rate of absence from work due to illness rose in 2007 to 3.4% from 3.1% in 2006. The average frequency of absence from work due to illness remained unchanged from the previous year, at 1.1 per employee. In 2007, 59% of Gasunie employees did not report sick all year (zero absenteeism).

N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie

Work-related absence from work due to illness

When they report ill, Gasunie employees can indicate whether or not their absence is work-related. In 2007, this indication was given for 23 absences, compared with 22 absences in 2006. It should be pointed out that from 2007, absences lasting less than five days do not require a cause to be given. The figure for 2006 was therefore corrected to take account of this. Gasunie notifies work- related absence to the Netherlands Centre for Occupational Disease (NCB), in accordance with statutory guidelines. In 2007, two notifications were made to the NBC following further investiga- tion. Both involved absence due to stress.

Work and Income (Capacity for Work) Act (WIA)/Invalidity Insurance Act (WAO)

In 2007, statutory invalidity benefit (WIA/WAO) was applied for in respect of one employee (compared with four in 2006). No WIA/WAO benefit claimants returned to work during the reporting year.

Health and Safety Service (Arbodienst)

Gasunie has its own in-house health and safety service, which has been certified since 1998. The service is a collaborative partnership between four experts from different departments. It works with an external occupational health and safety service.

Spearhead: safety of contract staff

We want to improve safety among external contractors and others who perform work for us. The number of work-related injuries among contract staff is higher than it is among our own employe- es. These injuries also tend to be more serious, partly due to the nature of the work involved. We therefore apply strict regulations which we expect contract workers to comply with. In view of the extensive new construction projects that lie ahead, improving safety among contractors is an important spearhead. A plan of improvements was therefore compiled and rolled out. Initiatives included clearer contracts, a HSE supervision plan and the structural auditing of the HSE aspects of projects. These improvements will be developed in more detail and further implemented in 2008. Spearhead: safety of pipelines

Gasunie's external safety policy is designed to exclude the risk and consequences of accidental gas leaks as a result of damage to the gas infrastructure as far as possible.

To guarantee the safe and reliable transport of gas, it is crucial to ensure the undisturbed location of the infrastructure. This means that Gasunie takes particular care to avoid any damage to the infrastructure. This is discussed in more detail in the chapter on Management and Maintenance. Spearhead: sustainability

The issue of climate change, caused mainly by the greenhouse effect, is a matter of global concern. The government has set itself the policy goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 30% in 2020 compared to 1990. Representatives of the private sector in the Netherlands (the VNO-NCW Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers, MKB-Nederland and LTO Nederland) have indicated that industry can achieve a 20% reduction. In 2007, Gasunie translated its emission reduction ('carbon footprint') and energy transition targets into the following themes:

X Green gas

X Clean energy applications

Reduction of greenhouse gases

We use compressors driven by gas turbines or gas motors to transport gas; the emissions released consist of CO2, and, to a lesser extent, of uncombusted gas (CH4). Under certain circumstances, gas is also released during the process itself, for example when valves and flaps are operated, during leaks, construction and maintenance work and in the event of incidents.

The use of compressors is largely determined by the demand for, and supply of, gas, which is in turn influenced mainly by weather conditions and the portfolio management of shippers. The lower the temperature, the higher the CO2 emissions. Factors such as the quality, pressure and transport possibilities of the pipeline network also play a role.

The measures identified in 2007 will need to achieve a reduction of approximately 27% by 2015 compared with 2006. Gasunie applied a financial norm of € 25 per tonne of CO2 equivalents pre- vented. Emissions of greenhouse gases in 2007 came to 364 ktonnes of CO2 equivalents (225 ktonnes of CO2 and 6.06 ktonnes of CH4 respectively). In 2006, these levels were 349 ktonnes of CO2 and 6.06 ktonnes of CH4 respectively.

In 2007 Gasunie will have CO2 emission trading rights as part of the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol in the Netherlands. In other words, the nominated installations released less CO2 than their designated allowances.

One of the measures used to reduce the methane released during Gasunie's activities wherever possible is a mobile recompressor or combustion unit. This limits the release of gas during operations. A new concept for metering and pressure-regulating stations was developed, by which gas that is used during operations is not blown off. In 2007 the metering and pressure-regulating station at Enschede was renovated and adapted to this design. Other stations will be similarly adapted over the coming years.

We are working on a programme to further improve the efficiency of gas transport. The prototype of this route planner, as it is known, will be available in 2008.

Employees working at external locations are equipped with measuring apparatus to measure levels of diffuse emissions. This enables them to reduce these emissions during maintenance work.

Transport and storage of CO₂

There is growing attention for the capture and storage of CO2 released during the combustion of fossil fuels, especially in the industrial sector. To make this possible on a large scale, it is necessary to guarantee safe transport between the point of capture and the point of storage. We believe there is a role for us here. Our many years of experience in the safe, sustainable and economically viable construction and maintenance of gas transport systems makes Gasunie well equipped to transport CO2. We have therefore begun discussing the possible launch of pilot projects with various stake- holders and are also making a specific study of all aspects of the transport and storage of CO2.

N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie

These activities are wholly in line with government policy, which sees the capture and storage of CO2 as a vital part of the transition to renewable energy.

Green gas

Green gas is produced through the gasification of biomass and the processing of gas from landfill or sewage plants. It is still practised on only a small scale in the Netherlands. In the context of its climate goals, the government wants green gas to account for five billion cubic metres of our total gas consumption by 2030. This is over 10% of the Netherlands' domestic consumption. We are currently looking at possibilities for including green gas in our high-pressure transmission system. We must ensure that the inclusion of green gas, which is of a fundamentally different quality and composition to natural gas, is handled carefully so that it can be transported and supplied to customers as a full equivalent of natural gas, in accordance with our high standards of safety and reliability.

Gasunie has also offered to take on the role of green gas certification authority. The government has responded positively to this offer. The offtake of green gas must be given a genuine chance; certifying the quality and origin of gas is thus essential. The issuing of certificates gives consumers the security they need concerning the origin of this gas. The certificates system can also be used to facilitate trade in green gas and to devise a government incentive scheme for green gas production.

Clean energy applications

We have been working on the development and application of clean energy and gas, such as efficient local combined heat and power generation, the virtual power plant and gas-powered vehicles, for several decades. We will continue to make our expertise and research facilities available for the development and expansion of clean energy applications and a renewable energy infrastructure. Engineering & Technology plays a key role in supporting the work of all the divisions, depart- ments and subsidiaries in relation to sustainability. To this end, it works closely with other research centres and knowledge institutes such as the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN), the Dutch testing and certification agency KEMA and national and international universi- ties. Engineering & Technology has begun establishing a renewable gas infrastructure knowledge centre, which builds on the knowledge and experience we have generated with renewable energy in recent decades.

Relationship with stakeholders

During the preparatory phase of new construction projects, Gasunie holds regular consultations with authorities, interest groups, landowners and local residents. For example, extensive dialogues were held with local stakeholders prior to the building of the compressor station at Anna

Paulowna and the proposed construction of the compressor station at Midwolda. One point of con- cern was how to ensure that construction work involved the least disruption to local communities. Before projects are started, Gasunie studies their potential environmental impact (Environmental Impact Assessment). For example, before a pipeline is laid, Gasunie will hold discussions with stakeholders representing the nature conservation and archaeological heritage sector. One frequent issue is how to lay a pipeline without damaging vulnerable habitats. The solution we have opted

Partnerships

In 2007, as part of our chain-based approach, we played an active role in the national transition policy, including the New Gas Platform. This included research into new gases (notably green gases and hydrogen), clean fossil fuels and local energy production.

Gasunie is a participant in Energy Valley, in which we work with other companies, authorities, research and educational institutions and other parties to develop renewable energy systems. With our partners, we are building and exchanging knowledge, stimulating innovation in the northern Netherlands and training students.

We are also working with Gazprom, Shell, the energy company RWE, the University of Groningen and GasTerra to broaden national and international energy-based knowledge as members of the Energy Delta Institute (EDI). As part of our supply-chain approach, we also play an active role in Marcogaz, an umbrella organisation of the European gas industry which coordinates the technical aspects of gas transport.

Another example of the chain-based approach is the Groningen Energy Covenant, a collaboration agreement between Gasunie and Groningen province, Groningen municipality and Nuon. Its aim is to implement energy conservation and renewable energy projects. In 2007 the partners worked on various projects to conserve energy and to apply renewable energy (solar, wind and biomass) and clean fossil fuels (natural gas pumps and micro-combined heat and power units). Finally, Gasunie has had various meetings with regional and national politicians to exchange knowledge and views on gas transport.

Social engagement

We make an active contribution to society, especially to events that benefit young people, sports and culture, based on a sense of social engagement. This includes sponsorship and donations. We have contributed to the Chair in Energy Transition at the Energy Knowledge Centre in Groningen, established by the Hanzehogeschool and Gasunie, and to the Netherlands-Russia Centre. In 2007 we began preparations with TNO and the Hanzehogeschool Groningen to conclude a partnership for research on energy transition. This enables young technicians to conduct research on energy transition during the final phase of their studies.

N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie