Energy firms agree to up green production, boost for wind power

Dutch energy firms have agreed with the government to supply a fixed percentage of sustainable energy by 2015, the Financieele Dagblad reports on Monday.


The deal is one of a package of measures to make sure the Netherlands reaches international green energy targets.
Currently, just 4% of the energy used in the Netherlands is considered to be green, but under EU climate agreements, that should rise to 14% by 2020.

Methods

The percentage of green power has not yet been determined, and it will be up to energy firms themselves to decide what production methods to use.
This means power companies which own coal-fired generators will be able to switch easily from coal to biomass, the paper says. Others will have to buy green energy from abroad.
The paper says the agreement includes provisions to make sure power station owners are not at an unfair advantage.
Wind
The Telegraaf says the deal also states the Netherlands must have 1,500 wind turbines by 2020, three times more the current total of land-based wind power generators.
In order to make planning permission easier, the government will take responsibility for granting permission for wind farms involving production of more than 100 megawatts, the paper says.
The agreement is due to be published later on Monday.

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