Brabant is facing a major energy issue. On the one hand, the focus is on the energy transition, on the other hand, the energy grid is full. Then there is also the discussion about where we should generate electricity. Do solar panels belong on the roofs, or can they also be placed on the ground? No one wants a windmill in the backyard, so where do we put it? And what do we think of a nuclear power plant, whether or not in Brabant?
Party leaders Willem Rutjens (JA21), Martijn van Gruijthuijsen (VVD), Jade van der Linden (GroenLinks), Marc Oudenhoven (Local Brabant) and Horst Oosterveer (Ouderen Appèl – Hart voor Brabant) answered questions from Brabant about energy during the Voter Debate of Brabant in the 013 in Tilburg.
Drought
Mado Ruijs of De Dommel water board is concerned about the groundwater level. “We have now experienced extreme drought for four years in a row. We see a structural drop of half a meter in the groundwater. If it improves too slowly, we are at great risk. What will the province do?”
Jade van der Linden (GroenLinks) does have an answer to that:
Solar panels or not?
Ruud Merks of the Brabants Civic Platform would like to know whether it would be wise to focus on the fully sustainable generation of hydrogen. “You can opt for manure fermentation, but with that you remove your energy supply from that chain. Isn’t hydrogen much better?”
Willem Rutjens of JA21 doesn’t like either of them. He would much rather see a nuclear power plant in Brabant. “Wind turbines and solar panels take up too much space. Half a nuclear power station does the work of a thousand wind turbines.”
Merks is not convinced. “It can easily take ten years to build, converting hydrogen is already starting now and does not have the risks that a nuclear power station entails.”
Problems with power grid
Massimo Heijnsdijk wonders how the problems in the energy grid should be solved. The demand for electricity is currently too much for the current energy grid, which can cause ‘blockages’.
According to Lokaal Brabant, the network is in good shape, but a lot needs to be done. Marc Oudenven: “As a province, we have to take care of this and gain time so that the network can be expanded. We will have to put in a lot of effort.”
Mark van Kuik, chairman of ZLTO Grote Heide, does not want solar panels on good agricultural land. “If we want to become more nature-inclusive, we need more land. Now we are putting solar panels on, in our opinion, good agricultural land.”
Horst Oosterveer (Ouderen Appèl – Hart voor Brabant) wants solar panels on roofs. “In thirty years’ time we will have a new problem like the one we have now with asbestos. We have no idea how to clean up solar panels that no longer work. So as far as we are concerned, they absolutely do not come into nature or on agricultural land.”
Only attention for Brainport?
Twan Saris of the Rivu business park in Den Bosch must accelerate sustainability. But according to him, the aid for this is not evenly distributed across the entire province. “We have the impression that Brainport Eindhoven in particular gets the attention and the money. Can’t we pay a little more attention to small and medium-sized enterprises?”
Martijn van Gruijthuijsen (VVD) does not entirely agree. “Brainport does indeed receive a lot of attention, but investments are certainly being made in other regions as well. I just don’t think it’s smart to spill our pot, then every entrepreneur gets a little bit. They can’t do anything with that.”
In the videos below you can see what answers politicians gave on the theme of energy.
What is the solution for the overloaded power grid?
Is too much attention being paid to Brainport?
Are we going to reverse cuts in nature?
Can solar panels be used on agricultural land?