Stedin Group’s activities

Grid management

Stedin operates alongside five other regional grid managers in a regulated market. Each regional grid manager is a monopolist within its service area. Regulation means that the work performed by grid managers is provided for in Dutch law and that the rates that they may charge for this work are set by the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM). The regulatory model encourages grid managers to achieve optimum performance in terms of efficiency and quality by using a benchmark comparison.

As a grid manager, Stedin ensures a safe, reliable and affordable energy supply for its more than 2.3 million customers. At year-end 2022, Stedin had 5,275 staff members, Comprising 4,324 internal staff members (male: 3,548; female: 776) and 951 external staff members (male: 741; female: 210). Effective 1 January 2022, Stedin and Enduris (the former grid manager for the province of Zeeland) integrated under the name Stedin.

Facilitating the energy market

Facilitating the free energy market is part of our societal role as a grid manager and independent partner of energy suppliers. Among other things, this means that our electricity and gas grids should be accessible under identical terms and conditions to all energy suppliers. Consumers are free in their choice of energy supplier. The resulting competition guarantees very competitive energy prices, which benefits consumers.

Grid managers are responsible for administering the energy system. This means that we provide market parties with insight into customers’ consumption and export of energy. Customers benefit from the convenience of switching to a different energy supplier, the insight into their energy consumption and from the ease of exporting energy to the grid. Our metering data enable energy suppliers to send correct invoices to their customers.

Non-regulated activities

A non-regulated activity will only be included in our portfolio if it demonstrably contributes towards efficient grid management, if it helps to fill a gap in the market and if Stedin Group is uniquely positioned to perform it. In addition, a minimum financial return requirement applies to investments in non-regulated activities, and any partners in those activities must be sufficiently reliable and ethical and have a good name and creditworthiness.

In 2022, the non-regulated activities accounted for 2.6% of revenue (2021: 3.3%).

NetVerder

By law, regulated activities for gas and electricity may not be carried out under the same banner as other energy infrastructures (such as steam, biogas, CO₂ and heat). This is why we transferred these activities to an independent brand within Stedin Group, NetVerder. NetVerder promotes the energy transition by supporting the development, construction and maintenance of energy infrastructures for heat, steam and biogas. NetVerder also focuses on the independent transmission and distribution of other new energy sources or carriers. NetVerder is an independent part of Stedin Group. NetVerder has 10 staff members, including 8 internal staff members (male: 8; female: 0) and 2 external staff members (male: 2; female: 0).

DNWG Infra

DNWG Infra (operating under the name DNWG) is the service provider that constructs and maintains the electricity and gas grids in the province of Zeeland. In addition, DNWG maintains and manages the grids entrusted to it, such as the grids of Evides Waterbedrijf and industrial customers. The commercial metering service TUMS was sold to Censo on 10 February 2022. Effective 1 January 2022, they are the new owner of TUMS. DNWG Infra has 324 staff members, comprising of 287 internal staff members (male: 240; female: 47) and 37 external staff members (male: 28; female: 9).

Joint arrangements

We form joint arrangements with other parties for specific activities.

Utility Connect

Utility Connect B.V. is a joint arrangement with network group Alliander. The company operates its own wireless telecommunications network, which is used to read metering readings provided by smart meters and to communicate with smart grid applications. This network allows us to supply metering data to market parties and shorten or prevent energy supply disruptions.

TensZ

Effective 1 January 2022, TensZ and TeslaN merged into a single organisation named TensZ. TensZ B.V. is the joint organisation of TenneT and Stedin for managing and maintaining high-voltage grids. Each party holds a 50% share.

Stichting Zeeuwse Publieke Belangen (Zeeland Public Interest Foundation)

Stichting Zeeuwse Publieke Belangen is an alliance between the province of Zeeland, the municipalities of Zeeland and Stedin Group. Established in 2017, the purpose of the foundation is to safeguard the arrangements concerning the sale of DNWG to Stedin Group in areas including employment, energy supply and the energy transition. The foundation makes a budget available to promote the energy transition in Zeeland. An overview of the initiatives can be found on the foundation’s website.