The Netherlands will be dependent on natural gas imports up to six years sooner than the government expects, according to a study by research institute TNO. The researchers call on the government to take timely measures to make sure that households don't end up without gas, NOS reports.
sustainable energy
Aug 15 '17 09:40
As of January 1st next year, all airports in the Schiphol Group will run entirely on sustainable energy generated in the Netherlands. The airport company signed a long-term agreement to this effect with electricity provider Eneco, ANP reports.
The Schiphol group covers the airports Schiphol, Eindhoven, Rotterdam and Lelystad. Together the airports use about 200 gigawatt hours of power every year. That's comparable to the consumption of 60 thousand households.
Aug 11 '17 10:10
From September 1st homeowners in Amsterdam can apply for a subsidy to remove their home from the gas connection. The Dutch capital aims to be gas-free by 2050 in order to drastically reduce CO2 emissions in the city. That means that 350 thousand homes must move from natural gas to sustainable heating and electric cooking, Het Parool reports.
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.
Mar 1 '17 09:35
The four largest cities in the Netherlands, united under G4, want the Dutch government to invest 35 billion euros into sustainability and infrastructure in the Randstad. The G4's plans span 15 years in which time some 1 million "green" homes will be built and accessibility to the city regions will be greatly improved, Het Parool reports.
The Mayors of Rotterdam, Amsterdam, The Hague and Utrecht met with Prime Minister Mark Rutte a few weeks ago to present their plan, Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb confirmed to the newspaper.
Feb 13 '17 09:51
A group of Dutch multinational companies signed a pact and started a "broad movement" against "encroaching populism and negativism", two representatives of the movement said to Financieele Dagblad on Saturday. This movement will not only fight negativity, but also boost the Dutch economy, they said.
Jan 20 '17 18:00
The Netherlands' largest solar farm officially opened on Thursday. The farm in Delfzijl consists of some 123 thousand solar panels and can produce 30 megawatts of power. It is expected to power some 10,000 homes, NU.nl reports.
The solar park is called Sunport Delfzijl is about as large as 65 football fields. It took German group Wirsol about a year to build.
Oct 18 '16 08:37
Small new energy firms in the Netherlands are much greener than their larger counterparts, according to the annual sustainability study. Of the five large energy companies, only Eneco scored a "sufficient" in the study
Jul 6 '16 07:24
A massive 700-megawatt wind farm set for construction in the North Sea will cost the Dutch government 2.7 billion euros less in subsidy than initially planned. Construction of the project at the Borssele site, 22 kilometers from the Zeeland shoreline, was awarded to Danish firm DONG Energy, Economic Affairs minister Henk Kamp announced on Tuesday.
Jun 7 '16 09:21
A massive 167 Dutch municipalities are still using coal power for their own electricity use, such as for powering street lighting, traffic lights and municipal buildings, according to a study done by SOMO on behalf of Greenpeace Netherlands.
Jun 6 '16 17:00
The Netherlands, Germany Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Denmark, Ireland, Sweden and Norway are teaming up to research technologies to generate renewable energy in the North Sea and to plan the construction of offshore wind turbines. These "North Sea countries" will ratify their agreements at the Energy Council in Luxembourg on Tuesday
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
Dec 8 '15 09:55
Energy firm Eneco announced intentions to be the first official supplier of Tesla home batteries in the Netherlands. If all goes according to plan, the Tesla batteries will be on sale in the Netherlands in the first quarter of next year
Nov 24 '15 09:14
The Netherlands plans to give 50 million people in poor countries access to green energy in the coming years, Minister Lilianne Ploumen of Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade wrote to the Tweede Kamer
Nov 24 '15 07:35
GroenLinks and the PvdA are working together on a legislative proposal which states that the Netherlands' CO2 emissions has to be at least 95 percent less in 2050, compared to 1990. And the energy supply must be fully sustainable by then.
Oct 27 '15 07:39
The Dutch electricity supply has become dirtier over the past year, instead of greener. The main reason for this is the low coal prices. Energy companies burned 5 percent more coal than in 2013, increasing the share of coal-fired power generation from 24 percent to 29 percent.
Aug 12 '15 08:31
Minister Henk Kamp of Economic Affairs wants to team up with gas companies to investigate how the enormous gas reserves in the North Sea can best be utilized. According to him, this gas can be used in "the transition to a sustainable energy supply".
Jul 14 '15 14:34
Solar panel sales in the Netherlands has increased significantly this year. Importers and installers have seen sale increases of between 70 and 100 percent compared to 2014
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.
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.
Nov 17 '14 08:53
Windmills that are still in working order, are being replaced with new ones as operators do not receive subsidy for the old ones.
Apr 25 '14 13:39
Coalition parties VVD and PvdA proposed that alternatives for big wind turbine farms in the three northerly provinces should get a serious change. They did so during a debate about Cabinet plans for wind energy on land and at sea in the House of Representatives on Friday.
Jul 17 '13 08:53
A new energy plan called “Nationaal Energieakkoor” will most likely implement the installation of 2 million household PV by 2023.
Jul 5 '13 04:44
Old coal operated power plants are closed, and probably there will no new coal operated power plants being built. For groups of citizens who wish to jointly generate electricity by solar panels there there will be tax advantages. This are some of the elements of a draft version of the National Energy Agreement. This was reported by the NIS.
Trade unions, employers, environmental organizations and other interest groups, are talking, led by the SER, for months now about such an agreement.
