Cabinet moving forward with nuclear plant plans, despite experts seeing "limited role"

Minister Rob Jetten for Climate and Energy will move forward with plans to build two new nuclear power plants, he said at the presentation of Expert Team Energy System 2050’s advice on making the Netherlands climate neutral. In that advice, presented in The Hague on Wednesday, the team of experts sees “no or a limited role” for nuclear energy.

“Nuclear power stations are not the solution for everything,” Jetten acknowledged when asked about this piece of the advice, AD reports. “Two nuclear power plants should eventually make up about 10 to 13 percent of our electricity mix.” Jetten stressed that he wants to comply with the Rutte IV coalition agreement, which states that the Cabinet will take steps to construct the two nuclear plants.

“The final decision on the nuclear power plants will be made in about a year and a half,” Jetten said. “This advice will also be taken into account.”

In the report, the expert team said that new nuclear power plants only make sense if the demand for electricity doubles or triples and the Netherlands has to supply energy to neighboring countries.

The report was also critical of the Cabinet’s choice of Borssele as the destination for the nuclear power plants. According to the Cabinet, Borssele already has knowledge, experience, and support for working with nuclear power, and the energy can be converted into hydrogen. But experts don’t see it as a good choice. “A lot of electricity is already being generated at the coast with wind farms at sea. With nuclear power plants added, the electricity grid is overloaded.”

Advice to make Netherlands climate neutral

The Expert Team sketched an image of a cleaner and quieter Netherlands, with fewer cars, green cities, and more varied rural areas. But to get to that climate-neutral point in 2025, the government must pick up the pace considerably and involve citizens more in the transition, the team said in its report, NOS reports.

“The Netherlands will become a pleasant society in which we travel more by public transport and less by car. Where we live in compact green cities and towns with facilities within walking distance.” The rural landscape will change to be more varied, with less livestock farming and space for cultivating other crops and natural raw materials.

In the long term, about 70 percent of the Netherlands’ energy will come from electricity, mainly generated by offshore wind farms. The country will remain dependent on biomass for some of its energy. “Of course, we know that it is difficult to produce biomass sustainably. But we can’t do without it for now," Heleen De Coninck, professor at Eindhoven University of Technology and one of the report's authors, said to the broadcaster. Hydrogen has a limited role but is indispensable for energy.

For the energy transition to succeed, it is necessary to limit the energy demand. And that will require cooperation from citizens. The experts see many opportunities in local energy systems. In 2050, many neighborhoods should be energy-neutral or even energy-positive, using energy generated in the district for their limited consumption. If the energy generated remains in the neighborhood, it puts little strain on the high-voltage grids.

Citizen involvement and fairness are the most essential conditions for a successful energy transition, the experts said. “In order to achieve our climate goals, our energy system must be CO2 neutral within 20 years. We can only do that if we put citizens first and offer them opportunities and support to participate, now, here, later, and elsewhere,” co-author Aniek Moonen said. As an example of a fairer policy, she mentioned tackling poorly insulated homes and investing in locally generated energy.