Dutch Government to Shut Two Coal-fired Energy Plants by 2024
Photo: RWE
The Dutch government on Friday said it will close two of the five coal-fired energy plants in the Netherlands by 2024, in the first step towards its earlier announced goal to shut them all down by 2030.
Economy minister Eric Wiebes said he will draft a law forbidding the use of coal for electricity, giving the operators of the coal-fired plants the choice between closing down entirely or switching to other power sources.
The first two plants affected, run by German energy company RWE and Sweden's Vattenfall in Geertruidenberg and Amsterdam, respectively, have been in operation since 1994. The remaining three were built in 2015 and 2016.
Shutting the coal-fired plants should help the government achieve its goal of reducing CO2 emissions by 49 percent relative to the 1990 level by 2030.
Emissions were 13 percent lower last year than in 1990.
Reporting by Bart Meijer
