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Energy & Natural Resources
Netherlands
A new decree provides further information with respect to the obligation to notify the minister of economic affairs, agriculture and innovation of a change of control over a production installation with a capacity of more than 250 megawatts or a company that operates such production installation, a liquefied natural gas installation or a liquefied natural gas company .
Energy was an important topic throughout the recent parliamentary election campaign, particularly the country's ability to reach EU targets for sustainable energy and carbon dioxide emissions. The coalition negotiations in the coming weeks will decide the energy policy for the next four years, and the parties' pre-election plans give some indication of the course that the Netherlands may follow.
The State Council recently ruled on the legitimacy of 11 Public Works Management Act permits granted in 2009 for the construction, operation and decommissioning of 11 wind parks. The State Council's judgment is a crucial step in the development of the offshore wind parks on the Dutch continental shelf.
There has been much discussion in the Netherlands on the feasibility of introducing a transport tariff payable by producers. A recent letter sent to Parliament indicates that the minister of economic affairs is considering two possibilities: either a producer's transport tariff for all producers (centralised and decentralised), or a transport tariff payable by centralised producers only (exempting local producers).
The government has released a bill that proposes certain amendments to implement proposals for the 2013 budget. Among these proposals are a number of measures intended to increase energy taxes, such as abolishing the existing exemption from coal tax for coal used for the generation of electricity in qualifying plants.
In response to concerns raised in Parliament on the market position of Dutch large industry, the Dutch minister of economic affairs, agriculture and innovation has indicated that he will not allow exemptions, comparable to those in Germany, from transmission tariffs for large industrial consumers. The minister has brought the German exemption to the attention of the European Commission.
