Energy Minister Rob Jetten wants permits for large energy projects to be issued more quickly. For example, the Netherlands must become more sustainable at a faster pace and bottlenecks on the electricity grid must disappear more quickly. Is it possible or are there also disadvantages?
It has long been a thorn in the side of companies operating the Dutch electricity grid: the age-old procedures for obtaining authorization for new high-voltage cables or transformer stations. “The construction of the infrastructure usually takes only two years, while the procedures take up to ten years”, he wrote industry association Netbeheer Nederland recently. “It has to be faster.”
Now that the electricity grid is in danger of stalling due to increased demand for electricity, Minister Jetten also wants to speed up this process. He wants to “sit on top of the license,” he added last week news hour.
With the so-called National Coordination Scheme, the minister can take over the authorization process of local authorities for large energy projects. This should lead to faster authorization for creation. “What municipalities and provinces encounter is that they don’t have the capacity or experience to grant permits at a good pace,” Jetten told NU.nl.
Protest against the wind farm
But it’s not always a success when central government takes over these tasks from provinces and municipalities, according to a study published this year by the University of Groningen and the Verwey-Jonker Institute. During the construction of the N33 wind farm in the province of Groningen, it actually led to quarrels with the municipalities involved and with local residents, who did not see the arrival of the wind farm.
Their objections were hardly heard. There was a “lack of opportunities for fundamental influence” for citizens, the researchers write.
“In the beginning, residents weren’t necessarily opposed to the arrival of the windmills,” says researcher Ron van Wonderen of the Verwey-Jonker Institute. “They have come up with alternatives: perhaps they should be a little further away from the houses, so as to make us less bothered. And what about the distribution of burdens and benefits?”
But little has been done with those concerns and suggestions. The national coordination program also meant that there were fewer opportunities to appeal against the plans. Anyone wishing to oppose could only turn to the Council of State.
To die to be the objections of local residents in 2019. According to the highest administrative judge, it was clear that there was no local support for the wind farm, but the plans met all legal requirements. The 35 windmills are now operational. They provide enough energy for around 140,000 households.
Learning from mistakes
The government must “learn from that experience,” Jetten now says. “That was when we worked out the Hague Energy Agreement – this is where the windmills will come. And with the national coordination program, we have also pushed it forward, much to the sentiment of many residents. locals”.
Now the ministry wants to take citizens’ concerns and interests more into account, says Jetten. “Good public participation, environmental management and the involvement of local residents are really crucial.”
Van Wonderen agrees. It is precisely resistance to big projects that can cause delays, he says. “If you proactively involve citizens and the business community from the beginning of the process, I think you can also make rapid progress.”
Shortage to the Council of State
If citizens go to court anyway, the cabinet hopes their cases will also be dealt with more quickly. Now the Council of State takes an average of more than eight months. This should be reduced by expanding the capacity of the administrative judge.
Whether it will succeed remains to be seen: there is already a “significant shortage of lawyers,” the Council writes in its statement annual report around 2021. As there are already fifty vacancies, the processing of cases will take more and more time.
