Three of the six parties involved in talks on forming a new coalition government want to close one of the country’s four coal-fired power stations this year, broadcaster NOS said on Friday.

D66, which is part of the outgoing administration, plus GroenLinks and the PvdA (Labour party) say closing one power station is the only way the Netherlands can meet its carbon dioxide reduction targets, as ordered in the 2019 Urgenda court ruling.

In that case, the court ruled that the state has a duty to protect and improve the living environment of its citizens and drastically cut emissions.

‘A deal is a deal,’ D66 MP Raoul Boucke told NOS. ‘We have to comply with the court ruling.’

Energy firms say they will be entitled to huge compensation packages if the plants are closed ahead of schedule.

German firm RWE, for example, has already said it will be looking for €1.4bn in compensation if its coal-fired power station in Eemshaven, Groningen, has to close in 2030. Uniper, which owns the power station in Rotterdam’s port area, has also said it will make a claim.

The economic affairs ministry is in negotiations with the companies concerned, NOS said.

The power stations must have made the switch to non-fossil fuels by 2030, under the government’s current plans to stimulate sustainable energy production.