The Dutch government plans to build three more offshore wind farms, in addition to five new wind farms already agreed upon in the Energy Agreement. The government wants the total offshore wind farms to produce 40 percent of the Netherlands' current electricity consumption by 2030.
Energy Agreement
Feb 5 '18 14:50
The government's climate plans will hit low-income earners in the Nehterlands the hardest, while businesses will see little change in their climate taxes, according to a study by research agency CE Delft on behalf of environmental group Milieudefensie, the Volkskrant reports.
The previous Energy Agreement, implemented in 2013, already hit low income earners harder than high income earners. The new Climate and Energy Agreement - talks on which are expected to start at the end of this month - will increase this inequality, the researchers conclude.
May 9 '17 09:24
The newest and so far largest Dutch wind farm opened some 85 kilometers off the coast of Groningen on Monday afternoon. Gemini consists of 150 wind mills, over two fields each covering an area of 34 square kilometers. The mills are able to generate enough clean energy to power 785 thousand households, NOS reports.
Construction of this wind farm started in 2015. It cost a total of about 28 billion euros. According to contractors Siemens and Van Oord, the Gemini Park reduces Dutch CO2 emissions by 1.25 million tons per year.
Apr 26 '17 08:52
Put environmental goals down in the law, reduce gas extraction in Groningen to almost zero, implement a road tax based on kilometers and emissions, ban the sale of fossil-fueled vehicles after 2025 and close all the coal plants in the Netherlands, the environmental committees of six political parties write in a proposal for the climate portion of the governance agreement, the Volkskrant reports.
Apr 6 '17 13:10
The energy-intensive industries in the Netherlands managed at the last minute to prevent Minister Henk Kamp of Economic Affairs implementing a law on energy saving by coming up with their own energy saving goals and measures to reach them, NOS reports.
Aug 1 '16 10:35
The Dutch government may spend 2 billion euros less than budgeted on subsidies for wind farms due to the fact that the cost of offshore wind farms dropped significantly over the past years, the Financieele Dagblad reported on Monday.
Apr 14 '16 16:20
Hundreds of wind turbines in the Netherlands are operating at a loss and are in danger of being demolished. The main cause is the very low energy prices, which mean that the maintaining the turbines cost more than what the generated energy bring in, the Financieele Dagblad reports based on own research.
Mar 30 '16 09:08
The lower house of Dutch parliament wants only sustainable, zero-emission cars to be sold on the Dutch market from 2025. If the parliamentarians have their way, no new diesel or petrol cars will enter the Dutch market from then.
Mar 8 '16 09:16
Opposition parties in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, wants to stop mining shale gas for as long as the agreements in the energy agreement are in force
Feb 8 '16 07:46
Minister Henk Kamp of Economic Affairs is leaving politics after the next parliamentary election scheduled for March 2017. He no longer wants to be a minister and he will not be returning to parliament, a spokesperson confirmed to NU after Kamp announced his departure on political talk show Politiek in de Pol.
Feb 3 '16 09:30
On Tuesday the Tweede Kamer, lower house of Dutch parliament, voted that Minister Henk Kamp of Economic Affairs should give no subsidies to coal-fired power plants for co-firing biomass until it is clear whether the plants must be closed due to pollution. Engergie-Nederland, the umbrella organization for energy companies in the country, thinks that the Energy Agreement will be jeopardized if coal plants do not co-fire biomass
Sep 7 '15 12:40
The plan to build an offshore windfarm in the North Sea will discourage tourists and day-visitors to Dutch beaches as it would ruin the view. It will also result in thousands of jobs being lost.
Jul 6 '15 12:20
Solar energy in the Netherlands has shown a strong increase since 2011. Of the 10 largest Dutch cities, Tilburg produces the most solar energy per resident. Amsterdam generates the most solar power overall.
Jun 26 '15 11:29
The Netherlands can be a major contributor to solving the climate problem if all the coal plants in the Netherlands close down.
Mar 26 '15 12:43
The Tweede Kamer - lower house of parliament - does not see any insurmountable problems with Minister Henk Kamp's (Economic Affairs) plans to build three large wind farms on the North Sea. The Kamer has given the go-ahead for the construction, NOS reports.
Dec 1 '14 13:37
The extremely expensive wind farms that had to be built because of the Energy Accord signed last year, will provide no CO2 advantage for the Netherlands, De Telegraaf reports.
Nov 26 '13 15:50
The construction of the largest Dutch solar park in Gennep has been halted for now. The energy park of 19 MW with 75,000 solar panels on an area of 28 hectares was crippled by decisions in The Hague, announced the initiators.
Aug 28 '13 04:09
Government, unions, employers and environmental organizations agree on the final version of the energy agreement. In July, the parties already broadly agreed. The signatures will be placed expectedly next week, after the first constituencies of the organizations concerned have been consulted. The Social and Economic Council (SER) came on Tuesday with an official statement. The negotiations on the energy agreement took place under the direction of SER chairman Wiebe Draijer.
