Provincial Council of Groningen want the cabinet to stop extra gas extraction

There was also an emergency debate about the gas issue in the Groningen city council. Like the members of the Provincial Council, the municipal councilors argued for stopping gas extraction by law. The council also wants the Groningen municipal council to object to the cabinet’s “unacceptable” gas plans.

Mayor Schuiling of Groningen spoke of an important signal to The Hague after the meeting. “Our municipal council, the Provincial Council and many other municipal councils all unanimously say: now it is really over. It is unacceptable that more gas is being extracted from the ground than was agreed. The people of Groningen are really fed up.”

Emergency debates about the gas are also planned in other Groningen municipalities in the coming days.

Nitrogen factory

It became already expected that more Groningen gas would be needed this year than originally thought. This has to do with the construction of a nitrogen factory in the province, which must convert foreign gas into gas that is suitable for use in Dutch households. That factory was supposed to be ready in April, but construction has been delayed.

Former Minister Blok of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy called the slowdown of the nitrogen installation and the higher gas demand from Germany last week disappointing. In a letter to the House of Representatives, he wrote that he understood that the extra gas extraction is a setback for many Groningen residents. Blok urged his German colleague at the end of last month to take all possible measures in the hope that the extra gas would not be necessary.

subsidy scheme

The new cabinet will make a final decision on the issue before April 1. Gas extraction in Groningen falls within the portfolio of State Secretary Vijlbrief of Economic Affairs. He said earlier that research is being conducted into what is possible to prevent extra gas from having to be pumped up from the Groningen soil this year.

Next week, the new State Secretary will talk for two days with residents, administrators and authorities in the affected earthquake area in Groningen. That visit will, among other things, be dominated by the subsidy scheme for victims of Groningen, intended to improve their home.

At the beginning of this week, tens of thousands of people from Groningen queued online to apply for that subsidy of 10,000 euros. Hundreds of others lined up at town halls. The subsidy pot was empty within a day. In the emergency debate of the Provincial Council, King’s Commissioner René Paas apologized on behalf of the provincial government for the state of affairs.

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