Provincial councillors in Groningen voted on Tuesday night to allow the building of a controversial coal-fired power station to continue, even though it does not have a proper environmental permit.

The permit was torn up by the Council of State, or supreme court, last month, saying not enough research had been done into the effects of the plant on the local flora and fauna.
But in a second ruling a week later, the court said building the plant in Eemshaven could continue until the provincial authorities decided what to do.

Blind eye
Now the council has decided to give the project a ‘blind eye permit’. This means Essent and RWE can continue building the power plant until a new environmental permit has been sorted out and the province will ignore the fact the permits are not in order.
Councillors did, however, ask the energy companies to look at the possibility of powering the plant using biomass rather than coal, Nos television news reports.