The government has opened the door to the partial privatisation of electricity grid firm Tennet and gas company Gasunie to enable them to raise more money on the capital markets.

The move is contained in a new energy strategy document sent to parliament on Friday. The report lays out the cabinet’s policy on energy provision for the next four years and clears the way for private sector involvement through a minority stake.
This would make it easier for the two state-owned companies to finance improvements on their networks in the Netherlands and Germany and ‘would not pressure the national budget,’ the document states.
The document also states that electricity firms which own coal-fired power stations will also have to burn some biomass in order to meet international targets. The Netherlands is committed to obtaining 14% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. At present the figure is around 4%.