The Dutch authorities aim at shutting down all remaining coal-fired power plants by 2030 in order to achieve their greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction goals (25% cut in CO2 emissions by 2020 and 55% by 2030 compared to CO2 levels in 1990). The country still has five plants in operation and the phasing out of coal in the Netherlands is controversial because three of them are newly built and designed to operate for decades. An important consideration in closing these new ones, is whether and how their owners will be entitled to compensation.
Besides, the government will also introduce a binding target to cut carbon emissions by 2030 to put a price floor under carbon prices. It will seek to bring a minimum CO2 price for the power sector by including a new CO2 tax in addition to the EU ETS, which are expected to rise up to €43 by 2030. The authorities also intend to widen subsidies for renewables and include CCS, while stopping awarding subsidies for biomass co-firing facilities by 2024 onwards.
The threatened plants include namely: the 1,560 MW Eemshaven facility (RWE, made of two units), the 650 MWe Hemweg-8 hard coal-fired unit (Nuon, Vattenfall), the 600 MW Amercentrale plant (RWE) and the 1,100 MW Maasvlakte-3 unit (Uniper).
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