Supplying TenneT, Gasunie and the Dutch nuclear programme: your own company in the Netherlands
The Dutch state is investing billions in its energy system through companies it owns. The operator of the electricity grid, TenneT, invested €4.9 billion in the Netherlands in 2025 and is building seven offshore grid connections of 2 gigawatt each. The gas pipeline company, Gasunie, is laying a national hydrogen network and is a partner in Porthos, a pipeline that will store CO2 under the North Sea, while a state company founded on 16 February 2026, NEO NL B.V., will order two new nuclear plants. Suppliers of cables, transformers, platforms, pipelines, compressors, nuclear components and engineering from South Korea, Japan, the United States, Spain, the Gulf and India can sell to all three through a Dutch private limited company (BV) of their own, which signs the contracts, imports the equipment under its own customs registration number (EORI), employs the engineers and holds the permits and subsidies in its own name.
Ask about your situationThe largest energy buyers in the Netherlands belong to the state. TenneT operates the electricity grid and Gasunie the gas and hydrogen pipelines, Gasunie owns the Porthos CO2 project together with the Port of Rotterdam and the state energy company Energie Beheer Nederland (EBN), and NEO NL B.V. will order the new nuclear plants. All of them buy under the EU purchasing rules for public utilities, using long framework contracts based on the international standard conditions for construction work (FIDIC). Suppliers from South Korea, Japan and the United States have the same access as European ones, because their countries signed the World Trade Organization’s agreement on public purchasing, the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA). Suppliers from the Gulf or India take part when the buyer admits them, and most buyers ask for a contracting party based in the EU.
A Dutch company of your own gives you that contracting party. It signs the supply contract or the subcontract and imports your equipment under its own EORI number. A permit from the Dutch tax office lets it report the import VAT in its own VAT return (the Article 23 licence), so the goods clear customs sooner and the VAT is settled in the same return. The company employs your engineers and site crews on a Dutch payroll, and it holds the permits and files the subsidy applications, because Dutch law grants these to the company that operates the installation. We set the company up and keep its books, while the address, the directors and the shares remain yours.
Tell us what you make or sell, where your company is and what you plan in Europe. Our team looks at it and replies with the steps and the dates that apply to you.
Who does what
We set up and manage the Dutch company. Specialist partners do the licence and product work. We are your only contact, with one file for all the work.
Your company
- Own the products, the technology and the relationship with TenneT, Gasunie, the vendors and the main contractors
- Decide the location, the people you send over and the projects you develop yourself
- Supply, install and service the equipment
- Sign the power of attorney for the formation and the applications
The Dutch company
- Set up the Dutch company (a BV), by power of attorney, with the notary
- Chamber of Commerce (KVK) number, tax number, VAT number, EORI number and the Article 23 licence
- Bank account, bookkeeping, VAT returns, annual accounts and corporate tax
- Payroll, recognition as a sponsor at the Dutch immigration service (IND) and the reports of posted workers
- One contact for the qualification, safety and subsidy partners
Qualification, safety and permits
- Registration as an approved supplier with TenneT, Gasunie and the nuclear vendor
- The Dutch safety certificate for contractors (VCA) and quality systems for site work
- The application for the Dutch subsidy for renewable energy and CO2 reduction (SDE++) and the permits for your own projects
- Office, workshop or warehouse space in Rotterdam, Eemshaven or Zeeland
Step by step
From your first question to a Dutch company that supplies the grid, the pipelines or the nuclear programme.
- Your question. You tell us what you supply, which buyer or main contractor you aim for and how many engineers you bring over, and we advise on the structure, either a single supplier company or a holding with an operating company.
- The Dutch company. The notary sets up the BV by power of attorney, with your parent company as shareholder. You receive the KVK number, the tax number, the VAT number and the EORI number. We prepare the bank application and the Article 23 licence.
- The people. Your Dutch company applies for recognition as a sponsor at the IND. Your engineers come over as highly skilled migrants, site crews are posted or employed, and the payroll starts.
- The qualification. A partner registers your company as a supplier with the buyer or the main contractor and arranges the safety and quality certificates.
- Operations. Your company imports, installs, services and invoices from its Dutch location, and you receive a monthly overview from one contact person.
The clients, the programmes, the money and what a foreign supplier needs
| Client | Programme | Money | Years | What a foreign supplier needs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TenneT (state-owned grid operator) | 2GW Programme: 13 offshore grid connections of 2 gigawatt each in the Dutch and German North Sea, 525 kV direct current cables, converter platforms at sea and onshore converter stations, built under FIDIC contracts. The Dutch connections are IJmuiden Ver Alpha, Beta and Gamma, Nederwiek 1, 2 and 3, and Doordewind 1. In March 2026 TenneT reported that the programme is behind after TenneT ended the contract with an offshore execution partner. | TenneT invested €14.8 billion in 2025 (2024: €10.6 billion): €4.9 billion in the Netherlands and €9.9 billion in Germany. | Planned commissioning 2029 (IJmuiden Ver), 2030 (Nederwiek 1 and 2) and 2031 (Nederwiek 3, Doordewind 1) in the English programme table; the Dutch table gives later dates up to 2033. | An EU contracting party for the subcontract, a Dutch payroll for the crews at the converter stations and in the ports, an EORI number for imported cables, transformers and platform parts. |
| TenneT | Onshore grid: new high-voltage lines and substations to relieve the shortage of grid capacity (congestion), which TenneT calls its highest priority in the Netherlands. | Part of the €4.9 billion invested in the Netherlands in 2025. | Continuous | A supplier company with a Dutch VAT number, local service engineers and spare parts in a Dutch warehouse. |
| Gasunie, through its subsidiary Hynetwork | National hydrogen network: existing gas pipelines reused for the most part, new pipelines where needed. The first 32 kilometres are in the Rotterdam port area; the first part is in operation in Rotterdam in 2026 at the latest; the industrial clusters along the coast and the first connections to Germany and Belgium follow before or in 2030; Limburg and the remaining links in 2031 to 2033. | Gasunie publishes the roll-out plan on its project page and the investment figure in its annual report. | 2026 to 2033 | A contracting party for pipeline, compressor and valve supplies, Dutch site crews reported in the Dutch portal for posted workers, and an EORI number for imports. |
| Porthos (Port of Rotterdam, Gasunie and EBN) | CO2 transport and storage: a 30-kilometre collecting pipeline through the port, a compressor station on the Maasvlakte, a 22-kilometre offshore pipeline and the converted P18-A platform. About 2.5 million tonnes of CO2 a year for 15 years, about 37 million tonnes in total. | Final investment decision taken in October 2023. | Operational in the second half of 2027 | Suppliers of compressors, pipelines and offshore work contract with the project company; follow-up CO2 projects are tendered the same way. |
| NEO NL B.V. (state-owned, founded 16 February 2026) | Two new nuclear plants: NEO NL B.V. orders, owns and operates them. Planned capacity 2.2 to 3.2 gigawatt, lifetime 60 years. The government prefers a location in Zeeland; seven sites in the Sloegebied, Terneuzen, Maasvlakte II and the Eemshaven were studied next to Borssele. The government chooses the technology in a competitive procedure. In May 2025 it was in talks with Westinghouse and EDF after the Korean company KHNP withdrew. | €20 to €30 billion for two plants, excluding financing costs (letter of 16 May 2025). At least €45 million for setting up NEO NL. | Draft preferred decision expected after the summer of 2026. First plant in operation in the late 2030s at the earliest. The existing Borssele plant applies for a licence extension in 2027. | A Dutch supplier company before the vendor is chosen, so that it is on the vendor lists for components, civil works, instrumentation and services. A Dutch payroll and recognition as a sponsor at the immigration service for engineers who work in Zeeland for a decade. |
| Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) | SDE++, the operating subsidy for renewable energy and CO2 reduction: solar, wind, heat, hydrogen, CO2 capture and storage. | €8 billion a year reserved for 2027 to 2032. Round 2026: 27 October to 26 November 2026. | Yearly rounds | The applicant is the intended producer, the company that commissions and operates the installation itself. The permits are in place when the application goes in. Solar projects show a transport indication from the grid operator. The login works with the Dutch business login for government services (eHerkenning), level 3. |
Because the Netherlands belongs to the EU customs union, equipment your company imports from Korea, Japan or the United States clears customs once, in Rotterdam, and can then go to a site anywhere in the EU free of further customs formalities. The Article 23 licence lets your Dutch company report the import VAT in its VAT return. See the energy supplier entity in Rotterdam.
Who may supply, from a GPA country and from other countries
TenneT, Gasunie, EBN, the Port of Rotterdam and NEO NL B.V. are owned by the state and buy under the EU rules for utilities. The GPA has 22 parties, the EU counted as one, among them the United States, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Canada, Switzerland, Norway, Israel, Australia, Singapore, Taiwan and Ukraine. According to the European Commission, suppliers from these countries have the same rights as EU suppliers in every tender the agreement covers.
India, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, China and Brazil are only observers at the GPA. On 22 October 2024 the Court of Justice of the EU ruled in the Kolin case (C-652/22) that the right to equal treatment in EU tenders belongs to companies from the EU and from countries that have a purchasing agreement with the EU, which leaves the buyer to decide whether and how a company from anywhere else takes part. A Dutch BV with a Gulf or Indian parent, however, is itself an EU company and signs the contract in its own name. See public tenders in the Netherlands for non-EU contractors.
Whatever your home country, the main contractors of TenneT and Gasunie work with subcontractors that have an EU company, a Dutch payroll and a Dutch VAT number, and a Dutch company of your own provides all three.
Tell us what you make or sell, where your company is and what you plan in Europe. Our team looks at it and replies with the steps and the dates that apply to you.
What your Dutch company does for these programmes
Buyers at TenneT, Gasunie and their main contractors sign with companies that have a registration number at the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KVK), a Dutch VAT number and a Dutch bank account. Your Dutch company signs the supply agreement or the subcontract, keeps spare parts in a Dutch warehouse and sends the invoices, while its EORI number appears on every customs declaration and the Article 23 licence lets it report the import VAT in its VAT return.
The same company employs your engineers. Once the Dutch immigration service (IND) has recognised it as a sponsor, it can bring engineers over on the Dutch residence permit for highly skilled migrants, while site crews from your home company either work in the Netherlands as posted workers, reported in the Dutch online portal, or join the Dutch payroll. Staff recruited from abroad who earn at least the required salary receive 30% of their salary tax-free in 2026 and 27% from 2027. See Dutch payroll for foreign companies.
Dutch law gives the permits and the subsidies to the company that operates the installation. For the operating subsidy for renewable energy and CO2 reduction (SDE++), the applicant must be the intended producer, meaning the company that commissions and operates the installation itself. The permits must be in place when the application goes in and, for solar projects, the grid operator must have confirmed that it can take the power (a transport indication). When you develop a project of your own, your Dutch company is that producer and also signs the connection contract with the grid operator. See energy subsidies in the Netherlands and hydrogen companies in the Netherlands.
A nuclear plant needs hundreds of suppliers over a decade, for civil works, piping, instrumentation, cabling, cranes, cooling systems and services, and the plant vendors approve those suppliers years before construction starts. A Dutch company set up now, with an address in Zeeland and a Dutch payroll, is on the supplier lists by the time NEO NL B.V. and the chosen vendor begin buying.
One Dutch company, many roles
The supplier, the importer with its EORI number and Article 23 licence, the employer and recognised sponsor, the permit holder and the subsidy applicant can all be the same company, with its bookkeeping, VAT returns, payroll and annual accounts kept in a single administration. Its profit is taxed at 19% on the first €200,000 and 25.8% above that.
The company is yours, so you choose the location, appoint the directors and own the shares. We handle the formation, the registrations and the administration, while partners from our network take care of supplier approval, safety certification and the subsidy applications at their own price, which you see first.
Your Dutch company (BV) costs from €2,950 excl. VAT, and a holding with an operating company from €4,950 excl. VAT. See company formation in the Netherlands and setting up a subsidiary in Europe.
Sources
- TenneT, 2GW Program (2026), with the 13 connections, 525 kV, FIDIC, the Dutch projects and years.
- TenneT, EUR 14.8 billion grid investments (9 March 2026, updated 14 April 2026), with €4.9 billion in the Netherlands, the ended contract with an offshore execution partner and congestion as priority.
- Gasunie, Hydrogen network Netherlands (2026), with the roll-out plan 2026 to 2033.
- Porthos, The project (2026), with partners, capacity, pipelines and operation in the second half of 2027.
- Minister of Climate and Green Growth, letter on the founding of NEO NL B.V., Kamerstuk 36 839 nr. 2 (16 February 2026).
- Government of the Netherlands, Kabinet wil Borssele langer open houden (17 October 2025), on two large plants, NEO NL and at least €45 million.
- Minister of Climate and Green Growth, progress letter on new nuclear build, Kamerstuk 32 645 nr. 156 (16 May 2025), with €20 to €30 billion, locations, vendors and timeline.
- State Secretary of Climate and Green Growth, Nota naar aanleiding van het verslag, bedrijfsduurverlenging Borssele (4 September 2026), with 2.2 to 3.2 GW, 60 years and the licence application in 2027.
- Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), SDE++: voorwaarden (2026) and meer tijd voor aanvraag SDE++ 2026 (2026).
- World Trade Organization, Agreement on Government Procurement: parties and observers (2026); European Commission, Public procurement (2026); Court of Justice of the EU, case C-652/22 (Kolin) (22 October 2024).
Last reviewed: 27 October 2026. Based on the official sources listed, as they apply in October 2026. Supplier qualification, safety certification and subsidy applications are done by specialised partners; we coordinate.
What we arrange beyond the company
Once your Dutch company is set up, we can help you with more. When you win a Dutch defence order, the government asks you to place part of the work with Dutch companies, and we find those companies for you. We prepare subsidy applications for your company, such as the Dutch subsidy for renewable energy and climate projects (SDE++) and the tax credit for research and development (WBSO). We help you buy a Dutch contractor or supplier, and we arrange export credit insurance and project finance with the banks.
We agree every fee with you first and link it to the result. For a project that deserves it, we join as co-founder and take a share of 5 to 10% in the project company.
Common questions
Ask about your own situation
Tell us what you supply, which Dutch buyer or contractor you aim for and how many people you plan to bring over, and you receive advice on the structure that suits your company.
Related guides
More guides about selling in Europe.