Dutch Cabinet to boost coal power use to reduce gas needs
This story was updated following the press conference.
The Cabinet wants to allow coal-fired power stations to run at a higher capacity in the near future in order to generate more electricity. As a result, the Netherlands will be able to reduce the supply from power stations that utilize gas. The storage facilities can maintain better supply levels because of those gas savings.
That is one of the measures that the Cabinet will implement to prevent gas shortages from developing next winter, Climate and Energy Minister Rob Jetten and State Secretary of Mining Hans Vijlbrief said during a press conference. Reporters gathered to hear the Cabinet members explain an entire package of energy measures on Monday.
The Cabinet is also again making an urgent appeal to consume less gas. It will also initiate a crisis plan to address the situation should shortages actually arise. The first phase of the Gas Protection and Recovery Plan is still dominated by "early warning," Jetten said. The step is intended to minimize the risk that there will actually be too little gas available next winter.
Residents can also contribute to this during the summer months by taking conservation measures, such as turning off the air conditioning more often or taking shorter showers. "Every cubic meter of gas counts," said Jetten. In addition, the Cabinet again pointed to the advantages of extra insulation, which can also reduce gas consumption.
Coal power production has been severely restricted in recent years in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In the fight against catastrophic climate change, a law has been passed that will completely phase out burning coal in power plants from 2030.
Now that coal-fired power stations are allowed to operate more, the Cabinet is coming up with other measures to compensate for the extra greenhouse gas emissions, but those plans are not yet ready, said Jetten said. The Cabinet will have this ready by Prinsjesdag, the day in September when the budget is formally presented to the public.
Earlier, Jetten said that the gas crisis was leading to a "difficult split" within the Cabinet. As a result, the government has to resort to other, more polluting fuels. This while the Cabinet actually wants to slash emissions, and has set itself ambitious climate targets.
However, the war in Ukraine and far-reaching economic sanctions against Russia have completely turned the energy market upside down. Gas prices have skyrocketed, and now that the Russian energy firms effectively cut off supplies to more and more countries, major shortages are threatening to arise next winter.
Companies already have an energy saving obligation. This will be tightened up further, and more capacity will be made available for enforcement. The crisis plan will also enable the government to monitor the situation on the gas market more closely, because energy companies must inform the government about deliveries on a daily basis.
At the moment, the additional costs the Cabinet will have to incur to maintain a sufficient amount of gas in storage facilities sufficiently for the coming winter, Jetten said without stating precise amounts.
Earlier this year, the Cabinet announced a subsidy scheme to encourage companies to build up sufficient gas stocks before the winter. This is not currently financially attractive for the private sector at the due to the high price of gas, and great uncertainty in the energy market. That is why the government is prepared to partly guarantee any losses.
In March, Jetten expected that this arrangement could cost the treasury between six and seven billion euros. But the tender with which the subsidy money is distributed has been so popular that he no longer thinks "that kind of amount" will be the final total.
The government therefore will likely to raise the bar a bit higher. The European Union previously agreed that the gas storage facilities must be at least 80 percent full before winter sets in.
To convince households and companies to start and continue to save energy, the Cabinet will quickly expand a special marketing campaign. The aim of it will be to advise households and companies on how they can do more to reduce their energy consumption.
A first campaign was launched at the beginning of April. The new promotion will begin on July 4. The first time, the focus was mainly on households, while this new phase focuses more on companies, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. It is not yet clear what the campaign will look like.
Reporting by ANP