User:Sophiepak27/sandbox

Sandbox practice page for environmental politics and policy course at CMU, currently working on a draft version of the improvement of the Wikipedia page about Electricity sector in the Netherlands. Sandbox practice page for environmental politics and policy course at CMU, currently working on a draft version of the improvement of the Wikipedia page about Electricity sector in the Netherlands.

= The electricity sector in the Netherlands = The electricity sector in the Netherlands exists out of several components: the generation, the transmission, the distribution and the retail of the electricity and each component has specific stakeholders. In 1998, the introduction of the Electricity Act liberalized the electricity sector in the Netherlands. This Act demanded the decoupling between utilities and electricity supply. This led to the liberalization of the generation and retail of electricity in the Netherlands. However, the transmission and distribution are still centralized and operated by the system operator and the utilities. The system operator and utilities have a monopoly position in the energy market. Therefore, to guarantee the rights of consumers and businesses in the electricity sector, these parties have to be regulated. To accomplish this, in 2013 the Authority for Consumers and Markets was founded.

The system operator, TenneT, is the only stakeholder responsible for managing the high-voltage grid (between a voltage of 110 kV to 380 kV) in the Netherlands. Then, there are seven utility companies that own the regional energy grids: Cogas Infra en Beheer B.V., Enduris B.V., Enexis B.V.,Liander N.V., Stedin B.V. and Westland Infra Netbeheer B.V.

The total electricity consumption of the Netherlands in 2013 is 119 billion kWh. The consumption grew from 7 billion in 1950 with an average of 4,5 percent per year. Currently, the main resources for electricity in the Netherlands are fossil fuels, such as natural gas and coal. In 2012, fossil fuels accounted for 81 percent of the produced electricity. However, renewable energy sources, such as biomass, wind energy and solar energy, produce 12 percent of the total electricity. There is only one nuclear plant in the Netherlands, in Borssele, which is responsible for about 3.5% of total generation. The majority of the electricity, more than 60 percent, is produced centrally by thermal and nuclear units.

During 2005–2008 the Netherlands imported 13–15% of electricity. In 2009, the Netherlands became even a net exporter of electricity, partly due to a sharp decline in imports in 2009 and 2010. However, in 2011 the import balance increased again sharply. This development continued in 2012 and 2013. From 56,1 PJ in 2010, to almost twice the amount in 2015: 110,7 PJ.

Electricity per person and by power source
In 2008 the Netherlands consumed electricity in average 7,463 kWh/person that was equal to EU15 average (EU15: 7,409 kWh/person). In 2014, this 6,713 kWh/person, which is a decrease of 10 percent compared to 2008.

Coal-based power generation
The Netherlands has seven coal-fired plants. Three new ones were opened on the Maasvlakte and the Eemshaven last year, while three old ones were closed down in Nijmegen, Borssele and Geertruidenberg. Additionally two other plants (Maasvlakte I and II) will close before the first of July, 2017. The remaining five stay open because the Netherlands can not function without coal energy according to the government. Operational coal-fired power plants in the Netherlands, 2017.

Use
According to IEA the electricity use (gross production + imports – exports – transmission/distribution losses) in 2008 in the Netherlands was 119 TWh. In 2014 it decreased to 113 TWh.

The electricity generated by wind energy increased from 1990 to 2013 by an average of 19 percent per year to 2,713 MW. In 2013, wind energy generates 9 percent of the total electricity power in the Netherlands – compared to the 3.9 percent in 2009.

The wind capacity installed at end 2010 will, in a normal wind year, produces 4.1% of electricity, while the equivalent value for Germany is 9.4%, Portugal 14%, and Denmark 39% in 2014.

Direct current (HVDC) submarine power cables to other countries include the 700 MW NorNed to Norway and the 1,000 MW BritNed to the United Kingdom, and a 700 MW cable is planned to Denmark. There are also several alternating current powerlines to Belgium and Germany.

Global warming
Emissions of carbon dioxide in total, per capita in 2007 were 11.1 tons CO2 compared to EU 27 average 7.9 tons CO2. Emission change between 2007/1990 was 16.4% increase. However, recent data provided by the IEA, show that the current emission per capita in 2012 declined with 6.1% since 2002, to 10.4 t CO2. Additionally, the IEA states that there is a decrease in emissions of 8 percent between 1990 and 2012, while GDP grew by around 50% in the same period. Emissions per capita in the OECD countries exceeded the Netherlands only in Czech Republic 11.8, Finland 12.2, Canada 17.4, Australia 18.8, USA 19.1 and Luxemburg 22.4.

Energy agreement for sustainable growth
On the sixth of September 2013 representatives from the Dutch government, environmentalists and the energy sector – in total 47 different parties – signed the Energy Agreement. They agreed that sixteen percent of the energy should be generated by renewable energy in 2023. Five coal-fired plants, which were built the eighties, should be closed in 2016 and 2017. The other remaining five coal-fired plants remain open and will be used for co-firing of biomass, which should contribute 1.2 percent of the total production of renewable energy. This agreement was a major breakthrough in the debate about climate change in the Netherlands. Mainly caused by the fact that all parties had a shared goal. Namely, creating an unambiguous policy for the energy sector, which would both strengthen the investment climate and start the transition towards a more sustainable future.

However, Urgenda – another environmental organization – did not sign the agreement. According to Urgenda the agreement is a weak compromise without any sense of urgency, therefore they summoned the Dutch government on the 20th of November 2013.They accused the Dutch state of acting unlawfully by not contributing its proportional share to preventing global warming. The hearing of the case of Urgenda versus the the Dutch government took place on the 14th April 2015. Then, on 24th June 2015, the verdict came; Urgenda won the case. The Dutch government was required to take more effective climate action in reducing the Netherlands’ considerable share in global emissions. This was the first time that a judge had legally required a State to take precautions against climate change. Even though, many politicians asked for action instead of delaying the transition to a more sustainable society, the government still goes in appeal against the verdict. The reason, the government states, is that they question the way the court assessed their policy. They promised, however, that new measures to comply with the verdict would still be carried out. Also Urgenda described it a delaying tactic. Additionally, 28.000 citizens signed a petition that the government should just accept the verdict.

Then, in October 2015 the second National Energy Exploration showed that the measures were not enough to reach the goals set y the Energy agreement. Many politicians lost their confidence in the agreement and demanded an additional set of measures. In December 2015, the majority of the Dutch House of Representatives voted that all Dutch coal-firing plants should be closed in the nearby future. A policy contradiction was created; closing the additional coal-firing plants would simultaneously go against the same agreement, because it would make the co-firing of biomass impossible. Additionally, three new coal plants were just finished and costed 1,5 billion euros each. In January, 2016, the three oldest were closed, in Nijmegen, Borssele and Geertruidenberg. Two more closures are scheduled for the first of July in 2017: Maasvlakte I en II.

Since the motion of Urgenda, the Cabinet and other involved parties have been negotiating possible solutions. Nuon, the Dutch subsidiary of the Swedish company Vattenfall, which owns the Hemwegcentrale, stated to be open for discussion about the closure of the plant. Essent, on the other hand, sought the confrontation; they believed that the closure of the plants would only work counterproductive in reaching the energy goals. Minister Kamp promised that in the autumn of 2016 a decision will be made by the Dutch government. This decision could lead to another large breakthrough in policies for the energy sector in the Netherlands.

In the end of January, 2017, minister Kamp sent a letter to the Dutch House of Representatives, that no decision will be made by this cabinet on the closure of the remaining five coal plants. Instead of a concrete plan, the minister sent a study to the Lower House, which he had carried out by the German research agency Frontier Economics, as well as the final advice of the individual members of the advisory group with whom the minister had been constantly consulted on this matter. These include VNO-NCW, FNV, environmental organizations and the VEMW. They did not agree on a common position and hence the difficult issue of the coal-fired power stations will be passed over the elections.