EZK

The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy (EZK) coordinates the Netherlands' gas storage strategy and holds the fiscal mandate for state-backed Bergermeer filling. In April 2026 EZK earmarked €233 million specifically for 2026 stockbuilding at Bergermeer, working alongside Gas Transport Services (GTS) to hit a 115 TWh cold-year injection target regardless of prevailing spot-to-forward spreads.

EZK oversees energy security, climate policy and industrial strategy for the Netherlands. Its storage mandate stems from the POST-2022 European consensus that gas storage is a strategic asset rather than commercial inventory. The ministry interfaces directly with GTS (a subsidiary of Gasunie) on the levy structure that raises €146.7m per year to recover injection costs.

Because Dutch physical hubs underpin the TTF benchmark, EZK's price-insensitive injection programme has bloc-wide market implications: state buying competes with commercial injectors in the same SPOT window, tightening TTF against hubs in southern and central Europe that carry no equivalent state buyer.