Government has been talking about early coal power station closure: NRC

Photo: Depositphotos.com
Photo: Depositphotos.com

The Dutch cabinet has been looking into the option of closing all coal-fired power stations in the Netherlands early, the NRC reported on Tuesday.

The research follows the Urgenda court case in which the Supreme Court said that the Netherlands must take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to protect public health.

The coal-fired power station in Amsterdam, which had been planned for 2024 was shut down last year.  Four remain open, of which the three biggest are in Rotterdam and the Eemshaven in Groningen. All are due to be closed by 2030.

Sources told the NRC that the cabinet had commissioned research groups Berenschot and CE Delft to look into the impact of 50 to 100 measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, ranging from tackling the livestock industry to subsidies for durable building. The government had pledged to present its plans before April 1.

Closure of the coal-fired power stations, CE Delft experts said last year, would be the most effective way of meeting climate targets.

Figures from national statistics agency CBS earlier this month show there has been a major shift in the amount of energy produced by different sources, with coal plunging by more than a third.

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