Coal plants may be running faster, but this year’s climate target looks solid

The Netherlands is running its coal-fired power stations again at full capacity, so that less (Russian) natural gas is needed to generate electricity. This will release extra CO2, but the national climate target will not be endangered this year.

The objective of the Urgenda climate dossier was not achieved last year. According to preliminary figures from the CBS statistics bureau, emissions had fallen by 23.9% compared to 1990, while the court’s emissions were expected to be at least 25%.

High gas prices have led to significant savings in our energy consumption this year. People turn down the heating and take shorter showers to save on energy bills. Less gas was also used in factories and greenhouses.

In addition, the relatively light spring meant that we needed less gas to heat homes and commercial buildings. Gas consumption throughout the Netherlands fell by a quarter from January to May, according to the latest figures from Gasunie.

Our electricity supply is also becoming a bit greener every year due to the increase in the number of solar panels and wind turbines. Last year about a third of the electricity came from the sun and wind, while a year ago this was just over a quarter. This growth will continue this year, so power plants don’t have to work hard to generate electricity on sunny days.

Emissions are heading towards minus 30%

All these factors have reduced emissions by 11% in the first three months of 2022, according to Statistics Netherlands. About 5 megatons less CO2 was released into the air.

This saving is more than the extra emissions from coal-fired power stations that run at full capacity for a year. In a letter to the House of Representatives on Monday, Minister of Climate and Energy Rob Jetten withdrew the law that restricting coal-fired electricity generation would lead to additional emissions of up to 4.5 megatons per year.

Energy expert Martien Visser thinks that the Netherlands will emit 30% less CO2 this year than in 1990. tension† According to him, if coal-fired power stations are fully operational in the second half of the year, this will result in a saving of 1 percentage point, or minus 29 percent: still more than enough to meet the Urgenda target.

Jetten wants to compensate for coal emissions

But if we have very cold winters in the next two years and energy consumption increases again, the climate target could be jeopardized again, warns Jetten. That is why it wants to take additional measures in the coming years to compensate for the emissions from coal-fired power stations. They must also ensure that the Netherlands continues to make efforts to reduce CO2 emissions by at least 55% by 2030.

It is not yet known what these additional measures will be, but the climate minister suggests in his letter to parliament that they are mainly aimed at extra energy savings. For example, it is difficult to generate additional sustainable energy in the short term because of the capacity problems of the electricity grid and the long lead times required to build wind farms.

Now that the cabinet no longer has to compensate coal-fired power stations to limit their production, there will be a serious hangover that the cabinet wants to use to encourage large consumers of gas to temporarily reduce their consumption. Through a kind of auction, companies can bid against each other in order to save as much gas as possible at the best possible price.

Such an auction was originally intended as an emergency measure in the event of a gas shortage, but the ministry now sees it as an option to guarantee gas and CO2 savings, according to a spokesperson for Jetten. The cabinet wants to make a decision about the auction by August at the latest.